Kentuckian gets life for 2 killings

— The first of four defendants to be tried in the carjacking, sexual assault and slayings of a young Tennessee couple was sentenced to life in prison without parole Wednesday by the same jury that convicted him of murder.

Letalvis Cobbins, 26, had faced the possibility of two death sentences for conviction of first-degree murder and felony. He took a deep breath and then sat down after the jury announced its decision after less than three hours of deliberation.

The jury convicted Cobbins of Lebanon, Ky., on Tuesday in the January 2007 attack on 21-year-old Channon Christian and her 23-year-old boyfriend Christopher Newsom, both of Knoxville.

Christian's father grimaced as he listened to the sentence.

"The jury didn't do their job. They didn't render the verdict they should [have]," said Hugh Newsom, father of Christopher Newsom. "One consolation is he will not be on the street again."

Earlier Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Leland Price had tried to persuade the jury of six men and six women - taken from Nashville because of extensive pretrial publicity - that the crime "cries out for justice and the maximum punishment this state can impose."

Defense attorney Scott Green countered that Cobbins should be sent to prison for the rest of his life, "never getting out, sitting there to rot and think [about what he has done]. He has earned it."

Christian's parents pleaded for a death sentence.

Cobbins' sisters and cousins from Memphis begged for mercy.

The victims were white and middle class, and the defendants poor and black. Some observers accused the national media of reverse discrimination by failing to give the case the same attention paid to white-on-black hate crimes.

The jury found Cobbins guilty on 33 of 38 counts, including first-degree murder and felony murder in Christian's death.

Gary Christian had led a group of friends who found his daughter's carjacked sport utility vehicle in an inner-city neighborhood the day after it was stolen, but no sign of her. Police would find her body two days later a few blocks away, stuffed in a garbage can in a rundown rental house.

"Someday I hope that I get to tell her that I am sorry," Christian told the jury earlier. "I was just down the street. I was trying. But I didn't hear her. I couldn't hear her cries."

Medical experts had testified Christian was likely already dead, suffocated by the plastic bag over her head and the position in which she was placed in the garbage can. Newsom's sexually assaulted, shot and partially burned body was found along some nearby railroad tracks.

"Neither Chris or Channon deserved what happened to them," said Christian's mother, Deena Christian. "They did nothing wrong."

Misha Davidson, Cobbins' older sister, testified that their mother used drugs and was frequently absent, and Cobbins' father was rarely around. The children had stability when they lived with a great-aunt, but after she died, they were basically on their own. Cobbins was 13 then.

"He is not a killer. He is not a killer," she wept from the stand.

"I am just so sorry to the family that this has happened to. I cannot imagine their pain," she said, looking to the Christians. "You may look at me and hate me for what happened, but I love my brother."

Cobbins' cousin Essie Farmer acknowledged, "We have not played the role we should have in Letalvis' life. We are just asking you not to kill him."

Dr. James Murray, a clinical psychologist, testified for the defense that Cobbins' upbringing - moving from households to homeless shelters, expelled from school for fighting, drug use - left him with a "chronic psychological maladjustment" and indications of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Cobbins moved to Lebanon, Ky., a few years ago to work for the Job Corps program. He went to Knoxville to visit his older half brother Lemaricus Davidson, 28, who moved there after completing a prison sentence for carjacking in west Tennessee.

Cobbins' family testified he had difficulty standing up to the often-angry and manipulative Davidson, the purported ringleader in the Christian-Newsom slayings. Cobbins admitted he raped Christian, but said he saw Davidson kill Christian and the carjacking was Davidson's idea.

Davidson is scheduled to be tried next month. Also awaiting trial are Cobbins' friend George Thomas, 26, and girlfriend, Vanessa Coleman, 21, both of Lebanon, Ky.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 08/27/2009

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