The city is famous for its riverfront, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Tourists flock to the river races and house and garden tours. But a blotter shows a disturbing history: a drunk man, a crying woman, noise complaints, and a break-in at a card shop. The city’s prosecutor, a former newspaper reporter with a doctorate in British history, has only been on the job for 18 months, and has prosecuted four murders in the past 12 years.
Melinda Loveless
Melinda Loveless was a close friend of Laurie’s. She and her friends, Toni Lawrence and Hope Rippey, had talked about killing someone before, and she pulled out a knife to scare Shanda. She said she wanted to confront Shanda. She also told Hope and Toni about her plan to kill Shanda.
Initially, Loveless told her friends that she was going to frighten Shanda with a large kitchen knife. She told them that she wanted to intimidate Shanda because she felt that she was infringing on her personal space. However, Loveless was only after the money.
Loveless had a girlfriend named Amanda Heavrin. They met at Hazelwood Junior High School. Amanda Hearvin’s parents filed a missing persons report. Then, two locals, Lawrence and Rippey, discovered Sharer’s body. They then identified Loveless and Tackett as the killers.
Melinda had long brown hair, and she had come out as a lesbian when she was young. She looked similar to Julia Roberts. She likely had a history of abuse. She was very controlling with Amanda and grew enraged when Amanda started talking to other people.
Although both girls were convicted of the crimes, their sentences were relatively light. Loveless received a sixty-year prison sentence, while Rippey and Tackett were given twenty-five years. Their sentences were reduced to thirty-five years during appeals. Lawrence and Tackett were released from prison in 2000, but Loveless was not.
Melinda was the youngest of three girls. Her father was a Vietnam veteran who served in the US Army. Her father Larry Loveless was a sexual predator and sexually abused his wife and all three of their daughters. Her father even fondled her as an infant. The two continued to sleep together until Melinda was fourteen years old.
Melinda Loveless was 16 when she committed the murder of Shanda Sharer. She was jealous of Sharer because she was dating someone. When Amanda Heavrin and Sharer were talking to each other, Loveless became jealous. She threatened Shanda with a knife when she found out about this relationship.
Mary Laurine “Laurie” Tackett
Mary Laurine “Laurie” Tackkett, a 17-year-old troubled teen, was arrested for the murder of Shanda Sharer. She had previously been a loner and had low self-esteem. When she entered prison, she prayed in a desperate way to God. After receiving an answer, she began to follow Christianity.
Tackett’s motive for the murder remained a mystery, although her claims of being raped have never been verified. She was also physically abused as a child. Her mother strangled and choked her regularly, according to court documents. She met Shanda Loveless a few weeks before the murder. The two had met at a party. Although Tackett was the one who killed her neighbor, the police have never been able to determine whether Tackett knew the young woman prior to the murder.
Tackett admitted that she was obsessed with the occult and had even tried to ask Sharer’s ghost during a seance. She also admitted that she had let numerous opportunities to save Sharer’s life slip through her fingers. She was also afraid to stop her murder. Tackett then locked her injured victim in the trunk of her car, where her body was discovered on Jan. 11, 1992.
In 1993, Tackett was sentenced to 60 years in prison. She served her time in a women’s prison in Indianapolis. Tackett has said she was remorseful for killing Shanda Sharer, but she has kept a low profile ever since her release.
Tackett, Lawrence, and Rippey have each served over 26 years in prison for their crimes. Loveless served more than twenty-six years for murder. She also convinced three other teens to help her commit the crime. She claimed that Sharer had stolen her girlfriend. Loveless is scheduled to be paroled in Jefferson County, Kentucky in the near future.
Tackett stabbed Sharer several times while she was in the trunk of the car. She returned covered in blood. She and Loveless then drove away in a car while Rippey and Lawrence sat behind them. While driving, they had Shanda in the trunk. At one point, Tackett pulled over and beat the girl with a tire iron.
Melinda Loveless’s statement
Melinda Loveless’s statement about Shanda’s murderers was a startling revelation. Not only did she admit responsibility for Shanda’s death, but she also stated that she had been able to stop it at any point, but didn’t. It appears that this nefarious motive was fueled by a group mentality, rather than any personal reasons for the murder.
Loveless, who was seventeen at the time of the murder, pleaded guilty to murder and arson, and was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Another girl also pleaded guilty and is awaiting trial. The judge denied her motion to have her conviction overturned. Her attorney, Mark Smallwood, claimed that Loveless was too young to understand the ramifications of the plea deal, and that she entered it without her parents’ consent.
In the fall of 1990, Loveless began dating Amanda Heavrin. She was depressed after her father left her, and was in counseling. She also had frequent fights at school. In March 1991, she came out to her mother and revealed her sexual orientation, but her mother rejected her at first. Her relationship with Amanda Heavrin was strained, and she began to associate Shanda Sharer with this deterioration.
Loveless’s statement regarding the murderers’ actions has been called shocking and disturbing. Her statement makes it difficult to believe that her son and daughter would have been responsible for Sharer’s death. She claims the girls were jealous of her and jealous of Sharer’s lesbian love triangle.
Det. Henry’s statement about the shanda Sharer murderers is also shocking and horrifying. While it is difficult to understand the motivation of the murderers, it is important to remember that Shanda Loveless died of a horrific crime. Her killers stabbed her with a tire-tool, stabbed her with a knife, and then burned her alive with a blanket.
In addition to a statement by Loveless, Tackett and Rippey both pleaded guilty to murdering Sharer. They were sentenced to jail for 60 years. Both women are currently serving their sentences.
Amanda Vaught
The murders of Shanda Sharer and Amanda Vaught have left a dark cloud over the city. The city is filled with historic homes and gardens, and 133 blocks of the riverfront district are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Tourists flock to the area for river races and house and garden tours. However, the city’s police blotter records several domestic disturbances, including one involving a drunk and crying girl. Other reports include noise complaints and a break-in at a card shop. The prosecutor is a former newspaper reporter with a doctorate in British history, and she has only been in the job for 18 months. In that time, she has prosecuted four murders.
Loveless, who was a victim of sexual abuse by her father, had been involved in a puppy-training program in prison. The program was set up by the Indiana Canine Assistant Network, which trains dogs to help people with disabilities. One of the puppy breeders, Shanda Sharer, had suffered from burns as a child. When she saw Loveless’ transformation, she felt inspired and decided to donate a puppy to her sister.
Shanda Sharer was born on June 6, 1979 in Pineville, Kentucky. She was close to her mother, Jacqueline Vaught. She attended school in Louisville, where she was active on volleyball and softball teams. She was also in a relationship with another woman, who had public threats to kill Sharer. The two girls enlisted the help of other women.
The murder of Shanda Sharer is one of the most horrific crimes in recent history. The murder was committed by a group of teens. These teens are often motivated by peer pressure or mob mentality. Although none of the women involved actually wanted to kill the girl, they were afraid the others would turn against them. In the end, only Hope and Toni were involved in the murder, but all four women said they were afraid of what the group would say. The death of Shanda Sharer has devastated the lives of all those who knew her.
When Shanda went missing, her parents realized she was missing. Steve Lawrence and Jacque Lawrence went to her home to report Shanda missing. Later, the police met Shanda’s mother Toni Lawrence, who gave a horrifying account of the tragedy. She also confirmed that Shanda was murdered.
