Braving the cold and snow, family and friends gathered at Chris Newsom’s grave in Claxton Saturday afternoon, not to grieve, but to celebrate.
“We don’t want to be sad, because we know they are in a better place than we are right now,” said his mother, Mary Newsom.
January 7th marks exactly 10 years since Chris and his girlfriend, Channon Christian, were kidnapped, beaten, raped and murdered in a crime that shocked Knoxville.
“It was a wicked crime – it was one of the most horrific crimes we have ever endured,” said then-Knox County District Attorney General Randy Nichols. “You just can’t believe it happened. What would be going through somebody’s mind that would cause them to do this to anyone? If the goal was to steal a vehicle, then take the vehicle. I think it certainly spoke to the guilt of the defendants.”
Christian was a 21-year-old West Knoxville resident and a senior majoring in sociology at the University of Tennessee.
Newsom, was a 23-year-old Halls resident, former high school baseball stand-out and a carpenter.
They started dating in November 2006.
Since their deaths, much has changed. Their families have endured trials, parole hearings and heartbreak. But one thing remains the same.
“We are not assured of this life, said Pastor Scott Hood of Beaver Dam Baptist church. “We don’t know how long it’s going to last, and I remember saying that at the services for Chris. Life is but a vapor.”
For the Newsom family, all these years later, closure still has not come. The five people authorities say are responsible for the killings have been convicted by juries. But one of the men, Eric Boyd, was convicted of facilitating the crimes, but never faced a murder charge.
“No healing can take place until that,” said Hugh Newsom. “No closure.”
But Saturday, it was time to share happy memories of Chris, and music he loved.
A few hours later, in West Knoxville, at Channon Christian’s final resting place, dozens gathered to honor her.
“It has been 10 years,” said her father, Gary Christian. “10 years ago started the worst nightmare a parent could imagine.”
The service, hosted with Christian’s Shepherd’s Riding Club, focused on what has been accomplished in her name. Christian now promotes self-defense classes at Smoky Mountain Self-Defense in Maryville in an effort to prevent future tragedies.
“The people that take that class know who Channon Christian is,” he said. “And trust me, what [is taught] to these people, they have a prayer, a chance to come home.”
It’s become the positive legacy of this unthinkable crime, he said, because these families can never forget January 7, and hope to keep the memories of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom alive for all of East Tennessee.