This page is dedicated to Shanda Sharer, one of the youngest murder victims in the state of Indiana in 1992. Shanda was a sweet, caring, outgoing 12 year old. She lived in New Albany, Indiana. When she started the 8th grade at a new school in New Albany (Hazelwood Jr. High) she had no trouble making new friends. One of her new friends, a 14-year old girl named Amanda Heavrin, coaxed Shanda into entering a lesbian relationship with her. Amanda already had a girlfriend, a very jealous 16-year old named Melinda Loveless. In the course of six months, Melinda threatened Shanda many times in and out of school. The situation became so troubling that after less then one full semester at Hazelwood Jr. High, Shanda's parents enrolled her into another school, a private catholic school. For awhile, Shanda secretly continued to see her lesbian friend, Amanda. During this time, Melinda Loveless continued to call Shanda and threaten her over the phone, or she would have 'friends' pass on threatening notes. Because of her fear of Melinda, Shanda cut off her relationship with Amanda on Christmas, 1991. In December of 1991, Melinda met a girl named Laurie Tackett through mutual friends. Melinda was not particularly interested in Laurie as a true friend, but she was interested in Laurie for one reason - 17-year old Laurie constantly bragged that she would like to kill someone, simply for the fun of it. When Melinda told Laurie of her rage and hatred towards Shanda, Laurie agreed to kill the young girl for her. On January 10th, 1992 Laurie called up a friend of hers from Madison, Indiana -- 15-year old Hope Rippey. Hope had never met Melinda before, but was interested in going to a 'punk rock' concert Laurie and Melinda invited her to that evening. Hope asked another friend of hers from school, 15-year old Toni Lawrence, if she would like to go with them to the show. Toni said yes. When the girls got together that night, Melinda immediately started talking about a girl she 'wanted to get', Shanda Sharer. Laurie suddenly got very angry with Melinda's talk, she explained to Hope and Toni that she was tired of hearing Melinda talk of her anger towards Shanda. If she wanted to hurt Shanda, she may as well go ahead and really do it. The girls talked some more about this, they devised a plan to get Shanda in a vulnerable position. Laurie drove the girls over to Shanda's house, where Hope knocked on the door and asked for Shanda. When Shanda came to the door, Hope acted upset and told Shanda her friend Amanda was upset and really needed to talk with her. When Shanda explained to the girl she was having nothing more to do with Amanda, she pleaded with her to have a heart -- she must care about Amanda still, and couldn't she just be there for her this one last time? When Shanda asked why Amanda had sent Hope instead of coming herself, Hope quickly explained that Amanda knew she couldn't come to Shanda's house (Melinda had told the girls earlier that evening Shanda's parents had forbidden the girl from seeing Amanda anymore) This ploy worked, but Shanda said her Dad would never let her go. She would have to sneak out to see Amanda. She asked Hope to come back and get her at midnight, and Hope agreed. The four girls (Melinda, Laurie, Hope & Toni) then proceeded to go to the punk rock concert. After the concert, they found they had to rush to get back to Shanda's house by 12 o'clock. When the girls arrived at the house, Laurie, Hope and Toni helped to hide Melinda in the car. They covered her with a blanket and a few trash items to hide her from Shanda's view. Then Hope went to get Shanda at her door. Shanda joined Hope and they walked back to the car together. The girls had Shanda sit in the front seat while Laurie drove, Hope and Toni sat in the back, and Melinda hid on the floorboard. The girls started small talk with Shanda, Shanda seemed anxious to see Amanda and asked the girls where they were going. What was wrong with Amanda, why did she have to see her so badly that evening? At this moment, Melinda jumped up and yelled "surprise!" She then put a knife to Shanda's throat. Shanda begged Melinda and the others not to hurt her, but they just laughed. The girls drove Shanda to a secluded wooded spot, where Melinda and Laurie tried to beat her and strangle her. Hope and Toni stayed in the car. Melinda and Laurie eventually strangled Shanda, to the point where she passed out. They dumped her body in the car's trunk and took off again. Hope and Toni suddenly got scared, they lied and complained they were tired. Laurie offered to take them back to her house in Madison, Indiana so they could sleep for awhile. The girls agreed. Once at the house, Hope and Toni settled down for a nap while Laurie and Melinda left again, they told the girls they were going 'country cruising.' Once they were off and driving again, Shanda awoke. She started screaming and scratching at the trunk. For the next 4 hours while they drove through sparsely traveled Southern Indiana roads, they would occasionally stop the car to torture Shanda. They stabbed her, beat her, and at one point Laurie even smashed her head in with a metal tire iron. After that brutal attack, the girl was quiet once again. They assumed she was dead. By this time it was about 7am. Melinda and Laurie went back to Laurie's house to pick up Hope and Toni. They acted calm towards the 2 girls, when Hope asked what happened to that little girl? Laurie answered with a cruel laugh, there was no little girl. It was all a dream! The four girls loaded up into the car. Their plan was to drop Hope and Toni off, then find a way to dispose of the body. Their plan didn't quite work out, because Shanda suddenly decided to fight. She once again started hitting the car and pounding on the trunk lid. The girls became scared. They knew Shanda was in very bad shape from the earlier torture, how could they kill her once and for all? Someone suggested burning her, and the girls quickly stopped at a gas station and bought a container of gas. Hope directed the girls to a very rural gravel road, the girls parked there and stepped out of the car. They opened the trunk and were shocked to find Shanda still alive. There was blood and chunks of human flesh all over the trunk. Not one inch of the trunk insides were not bright red with Shanda's blood. Shanda was still clinging to life, begging them not to kill her and crying out for her mommy. Toni was the only one of the girls who could not take anymore. She ran back to the car and laid down in the backseat. She didn't want to watch or participate anymore. Laurie, Melinda & Hope dragged Shanda's tortured body out of the trunk and onto the soft ground. They fought briefly over who would pour the gas onto her body, Hope eventually agreed to do it. As she poured the gas, Melinda lit a match and set the little girl on fire. The 3 girls stood there for a minute, probably to make sure the fire would finish 12-year old Shanda off. When they were assured it would, they got into the car and drove home like nothing ever happened. They even stopped at McDonalds for egg mcmuffins before heading home.
Between late 1992 and mid-1993, all four girls involved in Shanda's murder were sentenced. The punishments....
Links....
Deadly Women - Shanda Sharer part I
Deadly Women - Shanda Sharer part II
The Shanda Sharer Story - video from youtube
The Killing & Murder of Shanda Sharer - part 1
The Killing & Murder of Shanda Sharer - part 2
The Killing & Murder of Shanda Sharer - part 3
The Killing & Murder of Shanda Sharer - part 4
The Killing & Murder of Shanda Sharer - part 5
The Killing & Murder of Shanda Sharer - part 6
The story of three young girls' murder - the first one is Shanda
Shanda Sharer - TruTV Crime Library
Blog about the murder of Shanda Sharer
The Justice for Shanda Sharer Group site
Petition for Shanda - prevent the early release of Laurie and Melinda!
Join Justice for Shanda Sharer on Facebook
Melinda Loveless - attempt for release denied
Personal ad/contact info for Melinda Loveless, one of the murderers
Update on Toni Lawrence, released from prison in 2000
News Release about Hope Rippey release from prison April 2006
Sex/violent offender registration for Hope Rippey
Little Lost Angel, a book about Shanda's life and murder
Cruel Sacrifice, a book about Melinda's life and Shanda's murder
Wikipedia page for Shanda Sharer
