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Murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom

Also known as: Knoxville carjacking murders, Christian-Newsom murders

Active

2007–2007

Region

Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

States

KY, TN

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

2

On the night of January 6, 2007, Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend Chris Newsom, 23, were carjacked at gunpoint in Knoxville and taken to a rented house on Chipman Street. Newsom was assaulted, then shot by nearby railroad tracks and his body burned; he was found the next day. Christian was held captive and assaulted, and was found dead in the house on January 9. Lemaricus Davidson was arrested in Knoxville on January 11, and three others were arrested in Lebanon, Kentucky. Davidson was sentenced to death; Letalvis Cobbins and George Thomas received life sentences; Vanessa Coleman was convicted of facilitation; and Eric Boyd, first convicted federally as an accessory, was convicted of murder by a Knox County jury in 2019.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Channon Gail Christian, 21 · January 2007

  A Knoxville woman; Tennessee's Channon Christian Act (2014) and a scholarship carry her name.

• Hugh Christopher "Chris" Newsom Jr., 23 · January 7, 2007

  A Knoxville man; Tennessee's Chris Newsom Act (2014) and a scholarship carry his name.

Timeline of locations

1. January 6, 2007
   Carjacking at an apartment complex, Knoxville (Abduction, approximate area)

   After meeting in an apartment complex parking lot, the couple was forced at gunpoint into Christian's SUV. Mapped at city precision.

2. January 6, 2007
   House on Chipman Street (Crime scene, approximate area)

   The couple was taken to a house on Chipman Street in North Knoxville. Christian was held there and died in the house; she was found on January 9.

3. January 7, 2007
   Railroad tracks near Chipman Street (Recovery site, approximate area)

   Newsom was forced to walk to nearby railroad tracks, where he was shot. His body was found there on January 7.

4. January 11, 2007
   Davidson's arrest, Knoxville (Arrest, approximate area)

   Acting on information from Eric Boyd, police found Lemaricus Davidson in a vacant house in Knoxville and arrested him on January 11, 2007.

5. January 11, 2007
   Arrests in Lebanon, Kentucky (Arrest, approximate area)

   George Thomas, Letalvis Cobbins and Vanessa Coleman were arrested in Lebanon, Kentucky, the same day.

6. 2009
   Knox County Criminal Court, Knoxville (Court / trial, approximate area)

   Davidson, Cobbins and Thomas were convicted in 2009 and Coleman in 2010. After the trial judge resigned over misconduct, Thomas and Coleman were retried and convicted again in 2012-2013. Eric Boyd was convicted of murder in August 2019.

7. October 28, 2009
   Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, Nashville (Prison)

   Lemaricus Davidson is on Tennessee's death row at Riverbend.

Active at the same time, nearby

• Gary Hilton · both active in 2007, 124 km apart · map both

A coincidence of time and place, not a connection. All overlaps

Sources

• Murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom (Wikipedia)
• Judge denies request for new trial of Lemaricus Davidson in Christian Newsom murders (WVLT, 2019)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.