Free Republic

The father of Channon Christian made a vow Friday to Lemaricus Davidson, the convicted ringleader in her kidnapping, rape, torture and murder. "I will do everything in my power to see that they stick that needle in you as soon as possible," Gary Christian said during Davidson's second sentencing hearing. Davidson is already under two death sentences for the 2007 murders of Christian, a 21-year-old University of Tennessee senior, and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23. He was back in Knox County Criminal Court to be sentenced on the other charges related to the crimes.

KNOXVILLE - A Knox County jury this afternoon sentenced convicted torture-slaying ringleader Lemaricus Davidson to death by lethal injection for the January 2007 murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom. The jury of five women and seven men deliberated about four hours before returning its decision to a packed courtroom. “The punishment is death,” the jury foreman said. The victims' families gasped at the verdict, but Davidson showed no reaction. Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner admonished those in the courtroom to control any outburst. “The murder was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel,” the foreman said, reading from the verdict form....

It was the kind of crime that strikes terror into the hearts of parents everywhere. A bright young couple were carjacked after a Saturday night date and murdered in the most brutal way imaginable. Christopher Newsom, 23, was tied up and raped, shot in the back of the head and then dragged to a railway track and set on fire. His girlfriend, 21-year-old University of Tennessee student Channon Christian’s fate was even more horrific. Her death came only after hours of torture, during which time she was raped and savaged with a broken chair leg. She was beaten in the...