KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Channon Christian and Chris Newsom were planning to go to dinner on Jan. 6, 2007. Instead, they were carjacked, brought to a house on Chipman Street in North Knoxville, tortured and killed.
Newsom's body was found the next day -- tied up, gagged and shot in the back. It launched a desperate search for Channon.
The day after her family found her car nearby, investigators raided the Chipman Street house. Her body was stuffed in a garbage can where she suffocated to death.
Her father Gary remembered their last conversation: "I said, 'Alright, be careful' and 'I love you.'"
Five suspects were eventually arrested. Four were convicted of murder, rape and kidnapping in state court.
After two retrials, their sentences ranged from 35 years to death.
But one of the five never faced murder, rape or kidnapping charges: Eric Boyd.
Instead, Boyd was convicted of a federal crime: accessory after the fact.
For years, the victims of the families suspected Boyd was much more involved in the attacks. The prosecution, however, declined to seek state indictment.
Family members lobbied the DA to bring those charges, and last spring they finally did -- giving the families another opportunity to seek justice for their murdered kids. Jury selection for Boyd's trial in Knox County begins Monday, Aug. 5.
"I promised Chris when I embraced his form in the casket, that I will be in court every time one of those suspects makes an appearance," Hugh Newsom said.
He said he's been to court 379 times.
"It's never going to stop," Gary Christian said.
The families said it doesn't get any easier and the memory of their children doesn't fade.
23-year-old Chris was a standout Halls High School baseball player. He wore number 14, loved the outdoors, fishing, golfing and Notre Dame football.
21-year-old Channon was a senior at UT. Her friends said she had a smile that lit up the room. Her father still thinks about her every day.
"I think a good goal is for me to try to be more like she was," he said.