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BE ADVISED, THIS BLOG IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART OR THOSE WITH A WEAK STOMACH.  BUT IT DOES NEED TO BE PUT OUT THERE FOR ALL OF YOU TO BE AWARE OF.

On the evening of January 10, 1992, Shanda Renee Sharer, 12 years old, answered a knock on her door.  On the other side was 15 year old Hope Rippey, a girl Shandra had never met before, but said she was their because Shanda's friend had sent her.  She then took young, innocent Shanda in a car with three other teenage girls to meet this friend.  Only the friend was not waiting for her.  Instead something much worse. 

A short way into the drive a girl in the backseat held a knife to Shanda's throat and threatened to slice it.  After driving to a popular place known as Witch's Castle, the older girls built a fire and then began to beat little Shanda.  After a short while they became concerned someone might see them in the castle and forced Shanda back into the car.  They then drove out into the country to one of the girl's homes where they often had bonfires and resumed the beatings against her.  This time though things esculated well beyond just a beating.  They tried to slit Shanda's throat with the knife only to find out it was to dull.  This only angered Hope Rippey and her accomplices even more, to the point where they stabbed this helpless child repeatedly in the chest and legs with the knife.  

 All the while Shanda Renee Sharer was screaming for mercy, begging these savage teen-age girls to stop, to let her go home.  Instead they continued with the beatings and stabbings.  Unfortunately for Shanda, known of these wounds inflicted so far was enough to kill her.  Only enough to force her to endure even more of the pain she never wanted or asked for.After a few hours these girls grew restless and stuffed Shanda Renee Sharer back into the car again, only this time it was the trunk, figuring she would die.  Besides they were thirsty, and had decided to go to a local gas station for refreshments and gas.  After leaving the gas station they stopped off at another of the girl's homes.  Once there, Shanda began to make noises in the trunk, so they opened the trunk and took turns hitting her, only this time they used a tire iron, not their fists.  She was struck several times by all of the girls so hard that a piece of her skull was later found in the trunk. 

Positive that this latest beating would kill Shanda Renee Sharer, these girls then set out for a place to dump her.  By now the sun was coming up and it had been almost six hours since the beating had started against this little girl.  Once they found a field they opened the trunk and were startled when tiny, innocent, blood soaked Shanda sat up and asked for her mommy.  Instead of showing her mercy though, these pieces of bile took the tire iron out again and began to rape Shanda, repeatedly ramming the tire iron into her anus, inflicting even more pain and agony on a child that had really done nothing to any of them.

They then drug Shanda, still alive and conscious, across that muddy field, well into the distance and threw her on the ground.  They stripped all of her clothes off of her and began dumping gasoline all over her body.  Hope Rippey looked right into poor Shanda's eyes as she did this and laughed.  As Shanda screamed even more for someone, anyone or anything to come and help her, Hope Rippey looked down, dumped gasoline and laughed.  As Shanda begged for her mommy and daddy to save her, Hope Rippey laughed.  As Shanda Renee Sharer's blood soaked body seared at it's wounds from the gasoline she laughed. 

You see, even after beating, stabbing and dumping gasoline over Shanda's blood soaked, mutilated and defenseless body they could have stopped.  Hope Rippey and her friends could have left and called help for Shanda.  They could have done many things that they chose not to do.  Instead, they chose to try and protect themselves and finish what they had started.  They lit a match and watched an innocent child, Shanda Renee Sharer, burn.  They stood around and watched in those hours as the sun rose, Shanda Renee Sharer scream, they watched her teeth clench so hard that her teeth bit through her tongue.  They watched as the skin began to bubble, they watched as her beautiful brown hair turned to a greasy black scorched and bubbling skull.  They watched and laughed as Shanda Renee Sharer fought to be free against the restraints they had tied her to the ground with.  Just when the fire started to die down, and Shanda thought they were gone and she could finally die in peace, Hope Rippey returned, realizing the fire was dieing and seeing Shanda still moving, she picked up that bottle of gasoline and began to dump more, dumping over Shanda until the bottle was empty and then throwing the empty bottle on her. 

Hope Rippey then left Shanda and returned to the car.  She then left Shanda to die alone in that cold Souther Indiana field, with noone to help her, noone love her and noone to say they were sorry.  Instead, being hungry these girls drove to McDonald's for breakfast.  While eating they joked and laughed at how their breakfast sausages reminded them of Shanda's burnt limbs.  They laughed that they would never have to deal with her again.

You see, Shanda Renee Sharer was destined to be a great person, a person you could not beat down, a person who would have made a difference in life.  Shanda Renee Sharer died a death well beyond any death that any of us could imagine.  She endured multiple stabbings, she endured being raped, she endured what seemed to her to be an endless beating, she endured having gasoline dumped over her tiny body.  Shanda Renee Sharer endured far more in those hours of late January 10th, 1992 and early January 11th, 1992 than most of us will endure in a lifetime.  She knew the true definition of a hate crime, she knew the true definition of jealousy, she knew the true definition of begging for mercy, and she most definitely learned that morning the true definition of human animals. 

Even after she died Shanda Renee Sharer had a chance to make a difference, to protect others from such brutal crimes.  But, that chance like her life would be taken away from her before she ever had a chance to use it.  That chance, like her life, would be taken without warning, without a thought of her, by others.  Only this time it was the prosecutor in that small Indiana town, who chose to allow Hope Rippey and the others to plead out their cases.  The prosecutor who made it possible, along with the judge, for these girls to walk our streets today, not even 15 years after that horrible event. 

You see, Hope Rippey and 2 of her accomplices are free today.  Free to live their lives in society, free to do as they please.  Free to work, play, marry and even have children if they choose.  Hope Rippey was sentenced to 50 years, but she is out of prison today.  For every day that Hope Rippey behaved in prison, her sentence was reduced by one day for good behavior.  And as Hope Rippey was acting nice she took our tax dollars and earned a degree, which got her a few more years off her sentence.  Today, the courts say that Hope Rippey is a "productive" member of our society.

Now, I ask all of you, how this can be.  You see, Shanda Renee Sharer had a life that was taken long before it's time was up.  Shanda Renee Sharer then had a chance to protect others from these animals by simply having her day in court in front of a jury that would have surely sentenced all of these girls to death.  Instead, like her life, she was never given this chance because a prosecutor was to lazy to do his job.  To lazy to take such an easy and clear cut capital murder case to trial.  To lazy to stand up and fight to rid our streets of this scum the way Shanda Renee Sharer fought for her life.

I never had the chance to meet Shanda Renee Sharer or Hope Rippey or any of the others involved in this stomach churning example of how cruel people can be to one another.  I have only had the chance to read the story and records concerning this act.  But, I can tell you that I am crying for Shanda Renee Sharer and I vow that even though these things are free today that I will now help Shanda Renee Sharer stand up and fight one more time to protect others from suffering the same types of torture she so bravely endured. 

We love you Shanda Renee Sharer and for you we will now pick up the fight.

I urge all who read this to ask the state of Indiana to reconsider it's position on capital punishment for minors who commit capital murder.  I also ask that as I gather the names of the other girls who participated in this act and specifically the one that is still in prison, that we all work to help little Shanda and all the other little ones out there by writing to the Indiana Parole Board to keep her in prison as long as physically possible, and then maybe even a little longer.