Shanda Sharer
Nancy McKenney
Little Lost Angel was far the better and more responsible of the two.
Aphrodite Jones writes along the tabloid trash lines.
As to Toni Lawrence, I can't help but feel she too is a victim. I
realize that she had the opportunity to put a stop to the madness, but
can't imagine the terror she must have been wrapped in. Of the four,
she alone seemed to understand the actual consequences of her actions,
not just the consequences of getting caught. I just don't know how
a young girl with very little self esteem would have been in any
state of mind to weigh the options when caught up in so horrific a
situation.
She seems to be the only one of the four girls involved who has any
hope of understanding the depth of her involvement, and who has
shown any hint of a conscience regarding that night. Sadly, I think
this human side of the girl will prove far more detrimental to her
than the longer sentences Loveless, Tackett and Rippey received will
be to them.
I think Hope Rippey was too into the thrill of the kill, while Toni
was more terrified than anything.
I'm not trying to say that any of this absolves her from guilt, only
that I don't believe non-actions were in any way motivated by the
perverseness that the other girls showed.
Nancy
patty...@aol.com
Please tell me a little more about this one. Is this the teenage girl who
was killed by jealous friends, and the one friend then went and lived with
the victim's family?
I am happy to leave the jonbennet talk... for the moment... Though I
admit that is how I found this ng.. I don't find is so interesting today.
Not because the posters are boring, but just because we don't have
anything to look at, talk about... Until something new surfaces.. it is
all the people saying the same old stuff...
Nancy McKenney
To Patty:
Shanda Sharer was a little twelve year old girl who was tortured, then
burned alive by four teen-age girls. The motive was jealousy - one
girl, Melinda Loveless, was upset over Shanda's friendship with her
lover - another young girl named Amanda. At twelve, I find it hard to
to believe that Shanda was involved in a hard core lesbian relationship.
Possibly a bit of little kid curiosity/experimentation.
Two of the girls, Loveless and Laurie Tackett, were the agressors. A
third, Hope Ripey was more or less incidental at the beginning, but
seemed to get caught up in the whole scenario. She was the one who
actually poured the gasoline on Shanda, then Tackett lit the match.
The fourth girl, Toni Lawerance, was in the wrong place at the wrong
time, she didn't know what she was getting into, yet did nothing to
help Shanda. I can't condone her inaction, but really feel for the kid
- she has to live with that night burned into her memory, knowing that
she had a chance to get help, but didn't.
The case you mentioned, another jealousy killing by teen-age girls,
happened in California. The victim's name was Missy Avilla. Her
killers were her best friend Karen ?, another girl whose name I can't
remember, and a third girl, who much like Lawrance, happened to be in
the wrong place at the wrong time. This girl eventually went to the
police, and was not prosecuted. A few years had passed by that time,
and in those two years Karen moved in with the Avilla family, all the
while swearing to find the person who killed her best friend.
The similarities between the kid who eventually gave evidence in the
Avilla murder and Toni Lawerance are remarkable. It was Toni Lawerance
who went to the police over the Sharer murder, yet she did receive jail
time, although a much lesser sentence than the other girls.
I know that Lawerance was in a position to help Shanda and didn't, but
the problem I have with her sentence is something I can't explain, or am
even sure I understand myself. She was terrified of the situation and
the other girls, and some may ask why she didn't get help not only for
Shanda, but to remove herself from the situation as well. But if it was
inconceivable to her that these events were actually happening, couldn't
she have been just as afraid that other kids could act just as insanely,
with her as the target? Hope Ripey had been one of her closest friends
since they first started school - I'm sure Toni wouldn't have thought
Hope capable of what was going on. In the face of that, wouldn't it be
reasonable to assume that she may have felt some other kids in the
Loveless-Tackett crowd would come after her if she had called the police
when she had the opportunity?
Nancy
alice
You're thinking of Missy someone from the book "Missy's Murder." (and the
tv movie starring Tiffany-Amber Thiessen of 90210 as Missy.)
Missy was in LA, and she was drowned up in the LA hills; Shanda was...
gosh, can't remember, but far from LA...
Other info, anyone?
Nancy McKenney
Shanda Sharer was killed in, I believe, Kentucky. The Louisville area,
maybe?
Nancy
Lisa B
Nancy McKenney <nhay...@mail.caps.maine.com> wrote:
>Nancy
Indiana. Think they were fairly close to Louisville, tho'.
dles...@earthlink.net
Nancy McKenney wrote:
>
> Shanda Sharer was killed in, I believe, Kentucky. The Louisville area,
> maybe?
>
> Nancy
She lived in New Albany, Indiana with her mom, and Jeffersonville, Ind.
with her dad.
Sounds pretty convincing, don't you think? I'm really guessing, but
for some reason I think it's correct (gotta find that book).