On the evening of January 6, 2007, young couple 21 year old Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom had plans to go out to dinner and then attend a birthday party. However, the couple failed to show up, and were never heard from or seen alive again. The fell victim to what was meant to be a carjacking, but somehow it turned much worse. The case would take years to wind through the court system including 5 defendants, 7 trials, and a disgraced judge whose conduct threw the entire case into jeopardy.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/crime/2017/08/24/archives-horror-christian-newsom-killings-focus-what-happened-chipman-street/597805001/

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/when-hate-crime-is-not-a-black-and-white-issue/

 

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/when-hate-crime-is-not-a-black-and-white-issue/

 

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-supreme-court/1761907.html