Lawrence served 9 years of her sentence and was released in 2000. 11, 1992.Īll four teens were charged as adults. Her body was found on the morning of Jan. Investigators said Sharer was still alive at the time despite her many injuries.
The girls later took her north of Madison, poured gasoline on her body and set her on fire. Tackett beat her with a tire iron until she was silent. They again heard her making noises and stopped the car. She and Loveless then left with Sharer in the trunk. Later, they heard Sharer screaming from the trunk. They put her in the trunk, believing she was dead. They taunted and tortured her, eventually ending up at a garbage dump where they beat her, stabbed her, and strangled her with a rope until she lost consciousness. They then took Sharer to a local spot known as the “Witch’s Castle,” where they bound her arms and legs. Loveless, who was hiding in the back seat of the car, put a knife to the 12-year-old’s throat and asked her about her relationship with her girlfriend. The quartet returned to the home, and Sharer, although reluctant, went with them. Sharer told them she couldn’t leave until later, when her parents went to sleep. 10, 1992, Loveless and Tackett, along with 15-year-old Toni Lawrence and 15-year-old Hope Rippey, arrived at Sharer’s house in an effort to lure her out. Loveless told the others that she wanted to scare Sharer because she’d stolen her girlfriend. Tackett, then 17, was one of four girls involved in the murder, which investigators believed was masterminded by then-16-year-old Melinda Loveless. The 1992 attack gained national attention. She’ll remain on parole for a year once she’s free. She was sentenced to 60 years in prison but has served the required time for her release. Laurie Tackett, now 43, was one of four women convicted in the 1992 death of Shanda Sharer.
– A southern Indiana woman convicted in the brutal slaying of a 12-year-old girl 26 years ago will be released from prison Thursday. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.