![]() ![]() Sharer instructed the girls to come back after her parents went to sleep. This night Sharer was spending the weekend with her father, and the girls drove to her house claiming that they wanted to take her to see her girlfriend Heavrin. It was bitterly cold the night on January 10, 1992, and a teenage girl Melinda Loveless enlists three of her friends - Laurie Tackett, 17, Hope Rippey, 15, and Toni Lawrence - to help carry out one of the most senseless and brutal assaults and murders in Indiana history.īy most accounts, Melinda Loveless was the only girl of the four that knew Sharer was going to die that night, bringing along with her a sharp knife. However, even moving her daughter would not protect her from the gruesome chain of events. To protect her daughter, Sharer's mother transferred her to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic School. But Melinda Loveless came from an abusive home, where she would see her mother assaulted by her father most nights. Nobody realized just how far Melinda Loveless was willing to go, especially not to brutally murder Sharer. Over the next few weeks, Loveless threatened Sharer at school and even started sending notes to Heavrin claiming that she wanted her new partner dead. Outside the dance, tempers started to brew as the couple was confronted by 16-year-old Melinda Loveless, who previously dated Heavrin and was now extremely jealous of this new relationship. ![]() It was at this 1991 dance where Shanda Sharer met up with a former classmate Amanda Heavrin and the chemistry between the two girls quickly sparked, and they soon became romantic. However, it was this outgoingness that started a terrifying chain of events one evening at a local school dance. By all accounts, her outgoing personality meant that it was easy for her to make new friends. ![]() Shanda Sharer was once a popular and bubbly Hazelwood Middle Schoolgirl. A picture, based upon the girls' confessions, statements by witnesses and evidence uncovered by investigators, was beginning to emerge of Shanda Sharer's last hours of life, which would make that possible.Why Did Four Teenage Girls Torture And Burn Alive 12-year-old Shanda Sharer In 1992? There was no way Shanda could be brought back, but he was determined that she get justice. While each of the girls tried to play down her own role in the murder, most of their statements matched. The facts were starting to fall into place, and investigators were slowly piecing together what had happened to Shanda. Apparently Loveless and Tackett had confessed to at least three people, two of whom swiftly made statements to Shipley and Henry. The media attention also brought forth several teens who knew the accused and felt they had interesting tidbits of information to contribute. The public was in shock and demanded quick justice for Shanda. Following Loveless and Tackett's hearing, prosecutor Guy Townsend spoke with Hope Rippey's attorney regarding her involvement.īy this time, the media were swarming all over the case, and it was making national headlines. ![]() In a separate hearing, Judge Ted Todd waived both girls from the juvenile court system, determining that they would be tried as adults. A single count of murder was entered against both girls, and counsel was appointed to represent them. Investigators questioned both Melinda Loveless and Laurie Tackett before transporting them to the Indiana Circuit Court in Madison. Most revealing of all was the discovery of soot in the upper airway, indicating that she had been alive when she was set on fire. In addition, the extent of rectal bleeding showed that she had been alive at the time of the assault. Lacerations to the anus and rectum indicated a blunt object had been inserted at least three and a half inches. The upper part of the body was covered in third and fourth degree burns, and her tongue protruded through clenched teeth. Her jaw was also removed so that her dentist could make a positive identification. Shanda's fingers were in such distorted condition that they had to be cut off in order to take prints. Ligature marks were found on her wrists, and she had several lacerations on her head, neck and legs. The procedure revealed that she had suffered multiple injuries. George Nichols conducted Shanda's autopsy. ![]()
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