Lemaricus
Davidson A.K.A Slim, was the ringleader of the five gang members who murdered
Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, was sentenced to death on this date,
October 30, 2009. I will post information about him from Murderpedia.
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| Lemaricus Davidson |
A.K.A.: "Slim"
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Classification: Murderer
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Characteristics:
Carjacking - Rape - Torture - Mutilation
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Number of
victims: 2
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Date of murders:
January 7, 2007
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Date of birth: June
13, 1981
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Victims profile:
Channon Gail Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom Jr., 23
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Method of
murder: Shooting - Suffocation
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Location: Knox
County, Tennessee, USA
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Status: Sentenced
to death on October 30, 2009
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Lemaricus Devall Davidson, a Memphis native, was
sentenced to death in October 2009 for torturing and killing a young couple in
Knox County. The victims, Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, were on a
date in 2007 when they were carjacked by several armed men, including Davidson.
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Channon Gail Christian, 21, and Hugh
Christopher Newsom, Jr., 23.
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4 death sentences for
LeMaricus Davidson in Christian-Newsom murders
Wate.com
October 30, 2009
KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- A loud gasp was
uttered in the courtroom Friday when the first death penalty sentence was read
by the jury foreman as LeMaricus Devall Davidson was given four death
penalty sentences for the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.
The jurors unanimously found Davidson,
28, should receive the death penalty on the four called capital charges.
Those are for the two first degree felony murder charges and the two
premeditated first degree murders of Channon Christian and her boyfriend,
Christopher Newsom, in January 2007.
The jury got the case at 10:24
a.m. and reached a decision just before 2:30 p.m.
Jurors found a long list of
aggravating factors, including the torture of the victims and their ability to
identify the defendant, outweighed all mitigating circumstances brought by the
defense.
After the sentences were read, Judge
Richard Baumgartner said to Davidson, "The state imposes
the penalty of death by lethal injection. May you find peace with your
maker."
Davidson was found guilty Wednesday of
all the murder charges of Channon Christian and her boyfriend,
Christopher Newsom, in January 2007.
Prosecutors sought called members
of the victims' families to the stand Thursday to give their impact statements
as they sought the death penalty.
However, the defense had
hoped he would receive life in prison (with the possibility of parole
after 51 years), or life in prison without parole instead.
Davidson was also found guilty of
especially aggravated robbery, especially aggravated kidnapping, aggravated
rape and theft in this case.
The jury found Davidson guilty of the
lesser charge of facilitating Newsom's rapes, rather than raping Newsom
himself.
Davidson was found guilty of
raping Christian.
He's now the 90th person sent to
Tennessee's death row, but he's only the second to be put there with four
death sentences.
The jury was given extra security to
leave the court Friday afternoon.
Victims'
families thank jury
"The Christians and the Newsoms
got justice today," said Channon Christian's mother, Deena, as
the families' press conference started.
"I finally get to go see her (my
daughter) and tell her, one down," said Channon's father, Gary,
referring to a promise he made to his daughter to get justice for her
kidnapping, torture and murder.
Chris Newsom's father, Hugh, said the
jury, which is from Knox County, is "the pillars of our
community" and a round of applause by the families followed.
When asked what they thought of
Davidson's attorneys already seeking a mistrial, Deena said, "He's been
crying since day one. Let him cry."
"I respect this court. I respect
this jury, but I do not have to respect a couple of individuals because the
court made them do something," Gary said, referring to defense
attorneys David Eldridge and Doug Trant, "for attacking their son (as he
looked at the Newsoms) and our daughter."
"There is no vindication in
this," Gary said.
Hugh Newsom said Davidson "not
one time" showed remorse for his actions during the trial.
Gary Christian asked the
"thousands and thousands of people praying for them to pray for the jury.
I know it was hard for them to do."
The death penalty "just makes it
easier to go on," Deena said. "This made a dent in it," Gary
added.
"We got justice despite the system,"
Deena said.
Hugh Newsom said after the other
trials in this case was over, he wants to sit down with all the media and set
the record straight on the reprimand they received during the testimony phase
of this trial for an exchange with a defense attorney.
Hugh said they "weren't the
instigators." Gary Christian said with a laugh that he didn't know if he
would wait that long."
State's
closing: No excuses for Davidson's actions
Prosecutor Takisha
Fitzgerald told the jury Friday morning that Davidson had a tough
life, but "it does not excuse what he did. Life is about
opportunities and decisions you make."
"So what if he had a bad
childhood, a crack addicted mother? You still have choices," Fitzgerald
said. "Just obey the rules, Mr. Davidson," she says, "but he
doesn't. He won't."
Davidson had an opportunity at age 16
to turn his life around in the care of a loving foster family.
His foster parents don't abandon him,
even in prison, Fitzgerald told the jury. "What does he do after six years
in prison for aggravated robbery? "He comes to Knoxville to sell
dope."
At the end, Chris Newsom had only his
life left, but "he (Davidson)took that," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said also Christian
gave Davidson some of her trust when she told him she wanted to live. "She
didn't want to die."
Then Fitzgerald said, "He didn't
have to kill her."
She also said at the end of their
lives, all Newsom and Christian had was that they could identify their
attackers.
"A rough early life does not
excuse what you do at 26 when you take the lives of two young kids,"
Fitzgerald said.
Defense's closing: Please
spare his life
Defense attorney Doug Trant began his
closing argument by saying, Davidson had a horrible childhood, "and
it's not an excuse, but an explanation" on how he got here.
"Why would you sentence him to
life without parole?" Trant asked. He pointed to the Rudd family, took
Davidson in as their foster son. "Consider that heavily."
Trant reminded the jury of Dr. Peter
Brown's statement Thursday in his testimony. "He (Davidson) knows
right from wrong when he's sober" and not on a cocktail of drugs.
Trant told the jury he knows
they don't want to make the decision about Davidson's sentence, "but it
has to be done."
"I'm going to ask you to spare
his life," Trant said. "Please, I'm begging you to do the right
thing."
"Do you think this will be the
last death penalty in this case," one of the media asked. "We hope
so, but we don't know," Deena said.
State's
rebuttal closing: Crimes overwhelm all other factors
Prosecutor Leland Price told the
jury Davidson could have used his Aunt Rose as inspiration "but
he didn't."
"Use your common sense. Davidson
had people who tried to help him," Price said, referring to the Rudd
family. "He had every opportunity in the world."
"The aggravating circumstances
are overwhelming beyond the shadow of a doubt," Price said.
Think of the suffering those kids went
through, Price said. "You know the physical suffering. Think about the
mental anguish."
"Heinous, atrocious and cruel
doesn't begin to describe what they went through," Price said.
"Why were they killed,"
Price asked? "They knew too much."
Price said Newsom's family
didn't get to have funeral with an open casket because his body was
so mutilated.
"Why burn Newsom's body? Why did
they mutilate his body?" Price asked. "They left him there for the
whole world to see along those railroad tracks."
"These weren't just
murders," Price said. "These crimes cry out for the maximum penalty.
Give us justice."
To see the January 7,
2007 – Interrogation of Lemaricus Davidson, please go to this link:
To see the Grand jury
presentation in the case, please go to this link:
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Lemaricus Davidson |
PLEASE SEE THESE TWO
VIDEOS ON LEMARICUS DAVIDSON:
