Updated: 3/6/2009 4:08:26 AM
"We are in a war and it's hard."
For Gary and Deena Christian, their daughter's case and legacy have become a multiple-front battle.
As the family balances an ocean of court hearings and other judicial dates, they now find themselves fighting an even more spread-out battle on the world wide web.
Two years ago, she was carjacked, raped, and murdered in a now infamous east Tennessee case.
"I spent two nights not sleeping very good because there is stuff being said and where it comes from I have no idea," Gary Christian said.
Thursday night, the Christians invited the media to their west Knoxville home to discuss speculation that has surfaced on the web surrounding their daughter's murder in 2006.
Comments have suggested all sorts of things, like his daughter was cruising in a bad part of town before being carjacked.
"One might not think that's so bad to say with the exception of, it's not true," he said.
Along with Chris Newsom, Channon Christian was carjacked just off Washington Pike, near I-640 and Knoxville Center.
While they believe their daughter could probably care less about what online commenters have to say about the way her life ended, it stings the family to think she can no longer defend her own reputation.
"We're not asking anybody to not say what they want to say, just make sure they know what they're talking about," Deena Christian said.
Other allegations assumed drugs were involved.
It bothered Gary Christian enough that he contacted his daughter's old employer and pulled her old drug tests. He even double-checked with the coroner who did a drug test after Channon's death.
"She had taken no prescription or non-prescription drugs," he said.
"You take all you can take and then you read that, and you just want to explode because you know it's not true," Deena Christian said.
Now, as they continue to fight for justice through the court system, it appears they're poised to fight just as hard on every other front.
"This ain't Daddy and Mama defending their little baby girl. I've got facts, I've got proof," Christian said. "When you start criticizing the best of her, you've got real, real problem with me."
Thursday, the Christians say they maintain their support of anonymous online web comments, despite the difficulties.
"We don't have a problem with people talking, we don't even have a problem with opinions we disagree with."
However, they do hope to stop the speculation and allegations that haven't come up from investigators or even been submitted as a part of the defense's case.
