The Terrifying Final Moments: The Tennessee Couple Hunted, Tortured, and the Haunting Video That Shook America

Chapter 1: A Night Like Any Other

It was January 6th, 2007—a cold winter night in Knoxville, Tennessee. Channon Christian and Chris Newsome, two young souls just beginning to intertwine, had plans for an ordinary evening: dinner, then a party with friends. Channon, 21, was a bright sociology student at the University of Tennessee; Chris, 23, a talented carpenter and former baseball star. They were the kind of couple whose smiles lit up a room, whose futures seemed limitless.

But as they walked hand-in-hand to the parking lot, they had no idea monsters were watching. Within minutes, their lives would be stolen in a way so brutal, so sadistic, that even seasoned detectives would break down in tears.

Chapter 2: The Vanishing

When Channon and Chris didn’t show up at the party, friends grew worried. By the next morning, panic set in. Calls went unanswered, texts unread. Channon’s parents, knowing their daughter’s reliability, immediately sensed something was wrong. They began their own frantic search, tracing her phone to Cherry Street—a place none of them knew.

At 2 a.m., they found Channon’s Toyota 4Runner abandoned. The car was a mess—mud smeared inside, stickers peeled off, personal items missing. Most chilling of all, a pack of cigarettes sat on the dashboard. Neither Channon nor Chris smoked. Someone else had been there.

Chapter 3: The First Horrific Discovery

On January 7th, just one day after the couple disappeared, a train engineer spotted something on the tracks near Chipman Street. At first, he thought it was debris. As the train drew closer, horror dawned: it was a human body, burned, naked, bound, and tossed aside as if to erase all evidence.

It was Chris Newsome.

He had been marched barefoot to the tracks, shot three times—neck, back, head—then set ablaze. Detective Snderly later said he could only identify Chris by his eyes. For his family, the world shattered.

But the nightmare wasn’t over. Channon was still missing. And with every passing hour, hope faded.

Chapter 4: The House of Horrors

The break came when police found an envelope in Channon’s SUV, dusted for fingerprints. The print belonged to Lemaricus Davidson, a recently released felon living just blocks from where the car was found.

On January 9th, police raided Davidson’s house. Inside the kitchen trash can, stuffed into five garbage bags, was Channon’s body. She had been alive for hours after Chris was killed—hours of unimaginable torture, hours when she might have been saved.

The medical examiner’s report revealed a truth so devastating it broke even the toughest hearts: Channon had suffocated slowly, eyes open, fighting for air in her final moments.

Chapter 5: What Really Happened

The evidence inside Davidson’s house was overwhelming. DNA, fingerprints, and the couple’s belongings—Channon’s purse, shoes, camera, Chris’s caps and license—scattered everywhere. These weren’t just stolen items. They were trophies, proof of the killers’ cruelty.

Police soon identified five suspects: Lemaricus Davidson, his half-brother Latalvis Cobbins, George Thomas, Eric Boyd, and Vanessa Coleman.

According to court testimony, the group had gone to the apartment complex that night looking for a girl. Instead, they stumbled upon Channon and Chris. Davidson and Boyd pounced, guns drawn, forcing the couple into Channon’s SUV. They drove straight to Davidson’s rental on Chipman Street.

Inside, Chris was attacked immediately. He fought desperately to protect Channon, but the men overpowered him. His hands were bound so tightly they cut into his skin. He was beaten mercilessly, methodically. All the while, Chris could hear Channon screaming from another room, powerless to save her.

The men taunted Chris, promising Channon would suffer the same fate. Eventually, they dragged him outside, barefoot in the freezing night, to the railroad tracks. They bound his ankles, stuffed a sock in his mouth, pulled his own sweatshirt over his head, and shot him three times before setting his body on fire.

Channon’s suffering had only begun.

Chapter 6: The Torture of Channon Christian

For another 24 hours, Channon endured escalating torture. She was beaten, assaulted, and subjected to cruelty so severe it caused internal injuries described as “excruciating.” In a twisted attempt to destroy evidence, her attackers poured bleach down her throat and over her body.

When they decided to kill her, they denied her even the mercy of a bullet. Instead, they hog-tied her, wrapped her in garbage bags, sealed one over her head, and stuffed her, still alive, into a trash can. Forensic evidence later confirmed the most haunting detail: Channon was still breathing when they left her there. She suffocated slowly, dying with her eyes open.

Chapter 7: The Manhunt and Trials

A massive manhunt began. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI joined the search. The break came when Eric Boyd, under pressure, led police to Davidson’s hiding place. Inside, they found chilling evidence: Chris’s sneakers and the murder weapon.

The rest of the suspects fell quickly. Thomas, Cobbins, and Coleman were arrested in Kentucky, where police recovered Channon’s belongings and proof the group had been monitoring news coverage of their crimes.

All five faced charges: kidnapping, robbery, murder. Prosecutors made it clear—this wasn’t random. It was deliberate, prolonged, sadistic.

But justice did not come easily. The trials were a second nightmare for the families, forcing them to relive every detail. The evidence was so graphic, even seasoned police officers and prosecutors broke down. One prosecutor fainted when Channon’s autopsy photos were shown.

Sentences ranged from life without parole to death. Yet, a scandal soon rocked the case: Judge Richard Baumgartner, who presided over the trials, was found to be addicted to prescription pills and was disbarred. All four defendants were granted new trials. The families had to endure it all again.

Chapter 8: The Long Road to Justice

Retrials began in 2012. Most sentences stuck, but Eric Boyd, who many believed was the one who killed Chris, had only been convicted as an accessory. Chris’s parents refused to let it go. In 2018, a grand jury indicted Boyd on 36 counts, including first-degree murder. He was finally found guilty and sentenced to life without parole plus 90 years.

When the verdict was read, Chris’s father wept with relief. “No, buddy. I got you. You’re not going to get me now.”

All five killers are now behind bars. But for the families, no sentence could ever bring Channon and Chris back.

Chapter 9: Legacies and Lessons

Instead of letting the horror break them, the families chose to honor Channon and Chris. Scholarships were set up in their names. Gary Christian, Channon’s father, found faith after years of rage and pain, speaking in churches to warn others about the dangers of hate.

The Knoxville community changed forever. Doors locked tighter. Strangers were eyed with suspicion. But people also united in grief and resolve, determined that Channon and Chris would be remembered not for how they died, but for how they lived.

Chapter 10: The Haunting Video

The most chilling detail? Portions of the couple’s final moments were captured on video—evidence so disturbing it was sealed from public view, shown only in court. Detectives and jurors who saw it described it as “the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed.” It was proof of the deliberate, calculated evil unleashed on two innocent people.

Epilogue: Never Forgotten

Channon Christian and Chris Newsome’s story is a reminder of the darkness that can lurk just beyond the glow of ordinary life. Their futures were stolen, but their legacies remain—a call to cherish every moment, to protect those we love, and to never forget.

“Always remember to tell your children that you love them,” Gary Christian says, “because you never know when it’s going to be the last time.”

This case shattered Tennessee, but it also united a community in memory, love, and a promise: Channon and Chris will never be forgotten.

And just when you think this is as dark as it gets, another case surfaces—one even more twisted. Stay tuned, because some nightmares never truly end.