By David Lohr
(Continued)
Later that day, two quail hunters stumbled upon Shanda's remains in the field and notified police. At about the same time, Lawrence and Rippey had decided to tell their parents they had been witness to a murder. After listening to the girls' stories, their parents immediately notified the police.
As the details of the case slowly emerged, prosecutor Guy Townsend charged both Rippey and Lawrence with murder, arson, battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery, criminal confinement, and intimidation. He charged Loveless and Tackett with seven additional crimes, including child molestation and criminal deviant conduct. A month later, Townsend filed an additional count of felony murder against Loveless and Tackett.
In April 1992, Toni Lawrence accepted a plea bargain with the state. In exchange for her testimony, Townsend agreed to drop all charges except for a guilty plea for criminal confinement. Not long thereafter, Loveless and Tackett also accepted a plea bargain and pled guilty to the murder and torture of Shanda, arson, and criminal confinement. In exchange, the state would drop all other charges and withdraw the death penalty specifications against them.
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| Hope Rippey |
On the morning of January 4, 1993, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Ted Todd sentenced both Loveless and Tackett to sixty years in prison. Two weeks later, Todd sentenced Lawrence to twenty years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed by law. Hope Rippey was the only one of the girls who refused a plea bargain. She went to trial in June 1993 and was ultimately sentenced to sixty years in prison, ten of which were suspended for mitigating circumstances.
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| Tony Lawrence |
In 2000, 24-year-old Toni Lawrence walked out of prison after serving nearly nine years of her 20-year sentence. Six years later, Hope Rippey was released after serving 13 years of a reduced sentence. Now Melinda Loveless wants to do the same thing.
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