One of the four women convicted of beating, burning and killing 12-year-old Shanda Renee Sharer in 1992 was released Thursday from prison on the 26th anniversary of the girl's body being found.. When they returned to Tacketts house, she laughingly described what had just happened to Rippey. She was 12 years old at the time of her death. Her family has long suspected that her killer is someone she knew, but they have never been able to prove it. [45], All four girls were charged as adults. It is alleged that Loveless, Tackett, Rippey and Lawrence came from troubled or abusive . MADISON, Ind. In tears and fearful for her life, Sharer tried to respond but to no avail. The story was turned into a play by Rob Urbinati called Hazelwood Jr. High, which starred Chlo Sevigny as Tackett. They became lost, so they stopped at a gas station and covered Sharer in a blanket. Amanda. why taoism is often misunderstood as a superstitious religion because eric montross big grits eric montross big grits I've given her medicine, her baths. [3] When her mother divorced again, the family moved in June 1991 to New Albany, Indiana, and Sharer enrolled at Hazelwood Middle School. Shanda Sharer was born in the Pineville Community Hospital in Pineville, Kentucky, on June 6, 1979, to Stephen Sharer and his wife Jacqueline, who was later known as Jacqueline Vaught. Larry became a Baptist lay preacher and Marjorie became the school nurse. Melinda Loveless, now 44, was one of four women convicted in the 1992 death of Shanda Sharer. So Jacque Vaught did something remarkable. Her death has been the subject of much speculation and debate over the years. Shanda Sharer was a 12 year old girl living in the idyllic town of Madison, Indiana. Shanda was born in Pineville, Kentucky on the 6th of June 1979. She claimed that her mother beat her often. Hope was released on parole in April 2006. Tackett claimed that she was molested at least twice as a child at ages 5 and 12. Sharer continued to make crying and gurgling noises, so Tackett stopped the car. All rights reserved. Shanda Renee Sharer was an American girl who was tortured and burned to death in Madison, Indiana, by four teenage girls. Her case attracted nationwide attention due to its gruesome nature. In a new twist to the case, police have now arrested a man named Johnny Lee Sharer for . The girls, who were all between the ages of 15 and 17, lured Shanda out of her home in the middle of the night and took her on a drive around southern Indiana. Her parents, Stephen Sharer and Jacqueline Vaught got divorced when Shanda was very young. On the morning of Saturday, January 11, 1992, Canaan, Ind., resident Donn Foley and his brother Ralph were quail hunting in nearby Jefferson County when they spotted a strange object in a fallow soybean field near Lemon Road. [49] Tackett was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and suffering from hallucinations. I had never heard of Shanda Sharer before she was killed, but her murder has made me a fervent advocate for the prevention of crime. The fund planned to provide scholarships to two students per year from Prosser School of Technology in New Albany; one scholarship to a student who is continuing his or her education, and the other scholarship to a student who is beginning his or her career and must buy tools or other work equipment. [53] On November 14, 2008, Loveless's appeal was denied by the Indiana Court of Appeals, upholding Judge Todd's ruling. Tacketts motives aside, what would drive 16-year-old Loveless to mastermind such a brutal murder? If the judge accepted these arguments, Loveless could have been retried or released outright. An Indiana Department of Correction spokeswoman says 44-year-old Melinda Loveless was released from the Indiana Womens Prison in Indianapolis on Thursday after serving 23 years and eight months of a 60-year sentence for the murder and criminal confinement of Shanda Sharer in 1992. While Tackett, Rippey, and Lawrence had never met Sharer prior to that night, Tackett had already known of the plan to intimidate the 12-year-old girl. In May 2011, Tackett appeared on an episode of "Dr. Both Heavrin and Wathen were reluctant to believe the story until Tackett showed them the trunk of the car with Sharer's bloody handprints and socks still present. Loveless then sprang out from the back seat, put the knife to Sharer's throat and began interrogating her about her sexual relationship with Heavrin. Rippey sprayed Sharer with Windex and taunted, "You're not looking so hot now, are you? Lawrence and Rippey quickly lost interest in the music and went to the parking lot outside, where they engaged in sexual activities with two boys in Tackett's car. She dropped out of high school in September 1991. The three other girls assumed Loveless was simply going to scare Sharer into breaking up with Heavrin. I think the ICAN program allows her to have something in her life that shows her unconditional love, that she can show that love back to, and there's a result. Melinda felt crushed, especially when Larry remarried. Tackett grew up in a strict religious household where normal teenager things were not welcome behaviors. Below read an excerpt from the book and delve into the tragic . Sharer was reluctant to go with them, yet agreed after changing her clothes. By the next day, all four girls were in custody. First, Melinda and Laurie stripped Shanda naked near a remote trash dump while Hope and Toni waited in the . Vaught did something remarkable after seeing her daughters killer at work. The perpetrators were four teenage girls who committed unspeakable crimes under the influence of teenage jealousy and peer pressure. Clockwise from top left: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. Murderpedia Shanda Sharer's killers. ", "Judge denies Loveless' request for early release in torture-killing", "Woman convicted in 1992 murder released from prison", "Mastermind behind brutal murder of Indiana girl in 1992 released from prison", "New Albany memorial focuses on Shanda, not her murder", "Shanda Sharer's mother and murderer form unlikely alliance", "In Cold Blood: A Daughter's Brutal Murder", "Watch Jealousy Full Episode - Killer Kids | Lifetime", "Sex and Death: Interview with Marlene McCarty", "MOCA Collection: Marlene McCarty: 20002001: Melinda Loveless, Toni Lawrence, Hope Rippey, Laurie Tackett, and Shanda Sharer January 11, 1992 (1:39 am)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Murder_of_Shanda_Sharer&oldid=1133311329, Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Body of Shanda Sharer found in rural Jefferson County, Indiana, Loveless and Tackett accept plea bargains, A judge reduces Rippey's 60-year sentence to 35 years, This page was last edited on 13 January 2023, at 04:34. Lawrence, Rippey, and Tackett all had histories of self-harming behavior. "I was the bad person.". "Peer pressure. "I had many times said, "If you want to see as close to a person that has absolutely nothing inside of them, look into Melinda's eyes 'cause there's nothing there,'" Vaught said. Jacque never wanted contact with any of Shanda's killers. And Im doing it for her.. [12], In November 1990, after Larry was caught spying on Melinda and a friend, Marjorie attacked him with a knife; he was sent to the hospital after he attempted to grab it. 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The girls then took Sharer into their car and told her they were going to drive her to the meeting place at the Witchs Castle, an isolated and abandoned house that served as a local teen hangout. Furthermore, Melinda had a rough childhood, with her father being accused of sexual abuse. Shanda Sharer was born on June 6, 1979 to her father Stephen, and her mother Jacqueline. The same morning, a hunter found a badly burned body out in a field in Madison and called the authorities. Vaught donated a dog named Angel in Shanda's name to Loveless to train for the Indiana Canine Assistance Network program (ICAN) through Project2heal, which provides service pets to people with disabilities. Stephen resettled in Jeffersonville, Indiana with his wife, Sharon. Lawrence refused. There she met Loveless; the two became friends in late November. But, that night, Lawrence and Rippey went straight to the Jefferson County Sheriffs office with their parents and spilled the whole story. Its my choice to make. At 2:30a.m., Lawrence and Rippey stayed behind as Tackett and Loveless went "country cruising", driving to the nearby town of Canaan. But once Shanda got into the car, Melinda got out of her hiding place and held a knife to Shandas throat, and grabbed her hair. Her parents would eventually divorce, and Shanda's mother Jacque would move the family to New Albany, Indiana in June 1991. [46], Detectives obtained dental records that positively identified Sharer as the victim. By the end of the night, only four of them were alive. However, Amanda was in an on-and-off relationship with Loveless, who could not handle the jealousy and made public threats to kill Sharer. There had been just three other murders in the previous 12 years in the County, and none of them were as gruesome. Watch the YouTube video part one and part two that tell about the grisley torture murder of young innocent 12 year old Shanda Sharer by teenage young women. 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