The episode of ID‘s “Mean Girl Murders“ is about the sad story of Shanda Sharer. In 1992, Melinda Loveless was one of several people involved in the horrific murder of 12-year-old Shanda Sharer in Indiana, USA. Melinda and three other teenage girls took Shanda hostage, tortured her, and then killed her. The crime shocked the whole country and got a lot of attention from the media and the people.
Who is Melinda Loveless?
Melinda Loveless was born in New Albany on October 28, 1975. She is the youngest of Marjorie and Larry Loveless’s three children. She was born into a family that was having problems. Larry Loveless, her father, was said to be violent and cruel. He had been in the Vietnam War and was still dealing with the mental scars it left him. Larry was not able to maintain monogamy and had a history of acting erratically, including wearing his kids’ and wife’s undergarments and makeup. People say he was also very interested in seeing his wife have sex with other men and women.
During Melinda’s childhood, the Loveless family lived in or near New Albany, Indiana. The family’s finances were always changing because Larry’s unpredictable work schedule and quick spending put a strain on the family’s funds. The Lovelesses had a hard time with money, even though they sometimes lived in an upper-middle-class neighborhood.
Graceland Baptist Church gives us a look into the Loveless family’s complicated family relationships and problems. Marjorie got a job as a school nurse and Larry became a lay preacher for the Baptist church. Afterward, a fifty-year-old man was assigned by the church to exorcise Melinda for five hours in a hotel room. At first, the family was committed to the church’s rules, which included not drinking and dancing. However, they ran into problems that caused them to lose touch with the church community. Larry started working as a church marital counselor and gained a reputation for approaching women too soon, even going so far as to try to rape one of them.
The fact that Marjorie struck Larry with a knife and then tried to kill herself. Larry’s choice to split Marjorie and move away probably had a big effect on Melinda, especially since he later got married again and cut ties with her. Larry’s sad life came to an end when he was killed in a car accident in 1998. It was hard for Melinda’s mom, Marjorie Loveless, and her family as well. She only worked some of the time, and she and her girls often went to visit relatives while they were hungry, which could mean that they were having money problems and not having enough food at home.
The amount of abuse in the Loveless family was very bad. According to the abuse claims, Larry touched Melinda as a baby, abused Marjorie’s 13-year-old sister, and abused the girls’ cousin from 10 to 14 years old. Melinda’s older sisters also said that Larry had raped them, but Melinda herself wouldn’t say it.
Why did Melinda Loveless kill Shanda Sharer?
Melinda Loveless, Amanda Heavrin, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence were four teenage girls who killed Shanda Sharer. They did it out of jealousy, obsession, and a need for payback. There was a girl named Amanda Heavrin whom Melinda was seeing, and she got jealous when she found out that Shanda liked Amanda.
Melinda planned and carried out the kidnapping and murder of Shanda to get rid of her love rival. She did this because she was obsessed with and jealous of Amanda. She was dragged into a car by a group of girls, who then drove her to a rural area and beat and tortured her badly for several hours. She was tortured by having cigarettes lit on fire and being hit with a tire iron. She was finally killed by being stabbed.
Once Shanda’s body was found, the people who did it couldn’t hide it for long because some of them started telling friends about it. The confessions finally got to the police, which started a full investigation. The police put together the events that led to Shanda’s murder by collecting evidence and talking to witnesses. Three women, Amanda Heavrin, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence, were arrested and charged with murder based on proof and confessions. They were tried as adults, and Melinda got 60 years in jail.
Where is Melinda Loveless Now?
After getting 60 years in the Indiana Women’s Prison for killing Shanda Sharer, Melinda Loveless tried to get her term shortened. In October 2007, Loveless’s lawyer pleaded for her release, saying that she had been badly abused as a child and had not been properly represented during her sentencing. But her request was turned down, and she could still get released after 15 years.
Melinda Loveless got out of Indiana Women’s Prison on September 5, 2019, after being there for more than 26 years. She has to do her time in Jefferson County, Kentucky. Hope Rippey got out of jail on parole in 2006, after 14 years, and Laurie Tackett got out in 2018 after almost 26 years. Toni Lawrence got out of jail in 2000 after nine years.
In 2012, Melinda Loveless and Shanda Sharer’s mother, Jacque Vaught, had a loose connection because Vaught gave Loveless a dog in Shanda’s name to train for a program that gives service pets to people with disabilities. Since she got out of jail, Loveless has found comfort in teaching service dogs to help people who have been through trauma or disabilities.
Mean Girl Murders: Who is Shanda Sharer? What Happened to her?
