Christopher newsom new trial

Jamie Satterfield Knoxville. The murders of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom. From the archives: The January carjacking, torture, rape and slayings of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, has changed the Knoxville community.

Facebook Twitter Email. Share your feedback to help improve our site! Known as the "ringleader" of the killings, Davidson was found guilty on all the charges against him in the case. On the day he was sentenced, October 28, , the jury reviewed police interrogation video of him.

He had been interrogated by police on January 11, after his arrest. An investigator with the Knoxville Police Department said Davidson told him during questioning, "Selling dope, that's all I do, sell dope. I don't kill people though. Throughout the questioning, investigators said Davidson's story changed, and he at first denied any knowledge of what happened to Christian and Newsom. They already had the car and everything They had both of them in the backseat tied up I'm telling them, 'man, ya'll stupid'," Davidson said at the time.

Davidson claimed Christian grabbed his arm and said, "I don't want to die. Davidson's defense argued that the couple wasn't carjacked, but, instead, went to the Chipman Street house of their own volition to buy drugs.

The jury didn't believe his story, however, and found him guilty on all counts. In October , the presiding judge at the original trial, Richard Baumgartner, was disbarred by the Tennessee Supreme Court after an investigation revealed he had illegally purchased prescription pain pills from a convicted felon under his supervision, and in December a special judge ruled that Baumgartner was impaired at the time of the first trial and granted new trials to Lemaricus Davidson, Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, and Vanessa Coleman.

In May the Tennessee Supreme Court vacated that ruling and allowed the original convictions to stand: further legal maneuvering eventually resulted in retrials for Thomas and Coleman but not for Cobbins and Davidson.

In November , Coleman was convicted a second time on lesser charges than her initial convictions and re-sentenced to 35 years in prison.

In May , George Thomas was convicted a second time on all counts and given consecutive life sentences with an additional 25 years. Police, prosecutors, and the families of the victims all stated that they believed Newsom and Christian were not victims of a hate crime.

The couple was carjacked and kidnapped after a date. They were taken to the home of Lemaricus Davidson where they were tortured. Coleman, then 18, was present with her boyfriend Letalvis Cobbins. The crime ended with the discovery of Newsom's bound and burned corpse lying along railroad tracks the day after the abduction. It took three more days before Christian's dismembered remains were located in garbage bags at Davidson's home.

Prosecutors contended that Coleman was an equal player in the crimes. Three men were found guilty of first-degree murder, while Coleman was convicted of facilitating the attack.