On the evening of January 6, 2007, Channon Gail Christian, 21, and Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr., 23, were carjacked in an apartment complex parking lot in Knoxville, Tennessee, while standing near Christian's SUV. Both were forced into the vehicle at gunpoint and taken to a rental house at 2316 Chipman Street. Both victims were raped; Newsom was later taken to nearby railroad tracks, forced to walk barefoot, and shot multiple times, with the fatal shot severing his brain stem. His body was set on fire. Christian was held captive in the house for approximately two days, during which she was repeatedly beaten and raped, including with an object, before her attackers poured bleach down her throat and scrubbed her body to destroy DNA evidence. She was bound, placed inside a residential waste bin in the kitchen, and died of asphyxiation.
Newsom's body was found near railroad tracks on January 7. Christian's abandoned SUV was located by family and friends on January 8 after they obtained cellphone tower information. Fingerprint evidence from an envelope in the vehicle led investigators to Lemaricus Davidson, whose house was found unoccupied with Christian's body inside on January 9. Davidson was arrested on January 11 after a manhunt; Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, and Vanessa Coleman were arrested the same day in Lebanon, Kentucky. Eric Boyd was later linked to the carjacking and was federally indicted in 2007.
A Knox County grand jury indicted Cobbins, Davidson, Thomas, and Coleman on charges including kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder. Boyd was initially charged federally as an accessory. Following jury trials between 2008 and 2010, Davidson was convicted and sentenced to death; Cobbins and Thomas received life sentences without parole; Coleman was convicted of facilitation and sentenced to 53 years; Boyd was convicted federally and sentenced to 18 years.
All four state convictions were set aside after it emerged that presiding Judge Richard Baumgartner had been impaired by drug addiction during the trials; he later resigned, pleaded guilty to official misconduct, and was disbarred. The Tennessee Supreme Court subsequently reinstated the convictions and sentences for Davidson and Cobbins, while Coleman and Thomas were retried. At retrial, Coleman was convicted of facilitation of aggravated kidnapping, rape, and Christian's murder, and resentenced to 35 years. Thomas was again convicted on all counts and resentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 51 years, later reduced to 50 years in exchange for testimony against Boyd.
In 2018, Boyd was indicted on state charges of kidnapping, robbery, rape, and murder. He was convicted in August 2019 on nearly all counts, including first-degree murder and rape of both victims, and was sentenced to life plus 90 years.
The case drew national attention and controversy over media coverage, with some commentators arguing the crime was under-reported due to the racial dynamics of the case, while local law enforcement and prosecutors stated there was no evidence of racial motivation. The case led to two Tennessee legislative changes in 2014: the "Chris Newsom Act," eliminating the judicial "13th juror" validation requirement, and the "Channon Christian Act," restricting attempts to disparage victims' character at trial.
Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr., Channon Gail Christian
Date
2007
Location
Knoxville, Tennessee
Case status
solved
Case timeline
2007-01-06
Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom are carjacked at gunpoint in a Knoxville apartment complex parking lot and taken to a rental house on Chipman Street.
2007-01-07
Christopher Newsom's body is discovered near railroad tracks; Christian fails to respond to calls or attend work.
2007-01-08
Christian's abandoned SUV is located by family and friends after tracking her phone to a cell tower.
2007-01-09
Police locate Christian's body inside a waste bin at 2316 Chipman Street; the house is found unoccupied.
2007-01-11
Lemaricus Davidson is arrested in a vacant house; Letalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, and Vanessa Coleman are arrested in Lebanon, Kentucky.
2007-08-23
Eric Boyd is indicted by a federal grand jury as an accessory to carjacking and misprision of a felony.
2008-04-16
Eric Boyd is found guilty in federal court and later sentenced to 18 years.
2009-08-25
Letalvis Cobbins is convicted of the murders; sentenced August 26 to life without parole.
2009-10-28
Lemaricus Davidson is convicted and sentenced to death.
2009-12-08
George Thomas is convicted and sentenced to life without parole.
2010-05-13
Vanessa Coleman is acquitted of first-degree murder but convicted of lesser charges.
2010-07-30
Coleman is sentenced to 53 years.
2011-03
Judge Richard Baumgartner resigns from the bench amid drug-related misconduct allegations.
2011-12-01
Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood grants new trials to all four state defendants due to Baumgartner's impairment.
2012-05
Tennessee Supreme Court overturns the order for new trials for Cobbins, Davidson, and Thomas.
2012-06
Judge Blackwood again grants new trials for Davidson, Cobbins, and Thomas based on the '13th juror rule'; retrials later denied for Cobbins and Davidson but granted for Thomas and Coleman.
2012-11-20
Vanessa Coleman is convicted at retrial of facilitation charges related to Christian's murder.
2013-02-01
Coleman is resentenced to 35 years.
2013-05-17
George Thomas is convicted at retrial on all 38 counts.
2013-06-04
Thomas is resentenced to life with possibility of parole after 51 years.
2016
Tennessee Supreme Court affirms Davidson's conviction and death sentences.
2018-03-20
A Knox County grand jury indicts Eric Boyd on 36 state counts including murder, rape, kidnapping, and robbery.
2019-08-13
Eric Boyd is convicted on nearly all state charges, including premeditated murder and rape of both victims; sentenced to life plus 90 years.
2020-12-08
Vanessa Coleman is denied parole; next parole consideration set for ten years later.
2022-03
Tennessee Supreme Court denies Boyd's final appeal of his state convictions.
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People
Eric DeWayne Boyd
CONVICTED
Convicted federally as an accessory to carjacking (18 years); later convicted on state charges of murder, rape, kidnapping, and robbery in 2019, sentenced to life plus 90 years.
Vanessa Lynn Coleman
CONVICTED
Convicted of facilitation charges at trial and retrial; resentenced to 35 years after retrial.
Richard Baumgartner
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Presiding judge whose misconduct (drug addiction and improprieties) led to the initial vacating of state convictions; resigned, pleaded guilty to official misconduct, and was disbarred.
Lemaricus Devall Davidson
CONVICTED
Convicted of first-degree murder and other charges; sentenced to death, later affirmed by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2016.
George Geovonni Thomas
CONVICTED
Convicted at trial and again at retrial; resentenced to life with possibility of parole after 51 years, later reduced to 50 years in exchange for testimony against Eric Boyd.
Hugh Christopher Newsom Jr.
VICTIM
23-year-old carpenter kidnapped, raped, and murdered on January 6-7, 2007.
Channon Gail Christian
VICTIM
21-year-old University of Tennessee student kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered on January 6-8, 2007.
Letalvis Darnell Cobbins
CONVICTED
Convicted of murder-related charges; sentenced to life without parole, upheld after appeal.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23, were carjacked in Knoxville, Tennessee on January 6, 2007, and taken to a rental house where both were raped, tortured, and murdered. Five people were ultimately convicted in the case, though initial convictions were complicated by judicial misconduct that led to years of appeals and retrials.
Where did the murders happen?
Knoxville, Tennessee.
Who was convicted?
Eric DeWayne Boyd (Convicted federally as an accessory to carjacking (18 years); later convicted on state charges of murder, rape, kidnapping, and robbery in 2019, sentenced to life plus 90 years.), Vanessa Lynn Coleman (Convicted of facilitation charges at trial and retrial; resentenced to 35 years after retrial.), Lemaricus Devall Davidson (Convicted of first-degree murder and other charges; sentenced to death, later affirmed by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2016.), George Geovonni Thomas (Convicted at trial and again at retrial; resentenced to life with possibility of parole after 51 years, later reduced to 50 years in exchange for testimony against Eric Boyd.), and Letalvis Darnell Cobbins (Convicted of murder-related charges; sentenced to life without parole, upheld after appeal.).
