Photos by J. Miles Cary

  • Tom and Amanda Kitts, owners of the Kiddie Kottage II Learning Center, are opposed to the plan to build an apartment complex for disabled chronically homeless people close to their facility.
  • Pre-kindergartner Eli Fikes receives a dose of the H1N1 flu mist from Knox County Health Department registered nurse Kyla Ledford during a vaccination clinic on Wednesday at West Hills Elementary School. Only about half as many children received H1N1 flu vaccinations as regular FluMist vaccinations because of parents’ uncertainty over the vaccine.
  • Pi Beta Phi Elementary School students Claire Ballentine, left, and Jesse Ginn view microscopic life during an “electronic field trip” Tuesday at the Twin Creek Science Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
  • Convicted murderer Lemaricus Davidson listens as psychiatrist Dr. Peter Brown testifies Thursday in Knox County Criminal Court.
  • Lemaricus Davidson listens as Judge Richard Baumgartner sets out the procedure for the jury to decide what sentence Davidson will receive.
  • Gary Christian, father of murder victim Channon Christian, signals his feelings Wednesday in Knox County Criminal Court as the jury returns a guilty verdict against Lemaricus Davidson in the slayings of Channon and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom.
  • Prosecutor Takisha Fitzgerald, left, talks with Deena Christian, the mother of slaying victim Channon Christian, on Tuesday in court. The case against Davidson, the second defendant to be tried in the January 2007 torture killings of Christian and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, went to the jury Tuesday afternoon.
  • Mary and Hugh Newsom, the parents of slaying victim Christopher Newsom, embrace after Mary presented her victim impact statement on Tuesday in Knox County Criminal Court in the trial of Lemaricus Davidson, who is accused of killing her son.
  • Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, left, answers question while Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, Knox County medical examiner waits in the witness stand to resume testimony on Saturday morning, Oct 24, 2009.
  • Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, left, asks defense witness Ethel Lynn Freeman a question from the jury on Saturday monring. Freeman testified earlier that she had seen Channon Christian at a Exxon station on Magnolia Street and that Christian had asked her for gas money.
  • Lemaricus Davidson, the alleged ringleader of the torture-slaying of Knoxville couple Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, is on trial in Knox County Criminal Court. If convicted, he is facing the death penalty. He is shown here during court proceedings on Saturday.
  • Knox County Assistant Attorney General Leland Price, right, cross examines defense witness and Chipman Street resident Jeffery Bradley on Saturday about where he was standing on Chipman St. when he saw Lemaricus Davidson and a woman Bradley identified as Channon Christian get out of a teal-colored car. Bradley said he was searching for his mothers cat when he saw the two.
  • Knox County Assistant Attorney General Leland Price and Takisha Fitzgerald confer before the start of court Saturday, Oct 24, 2009.
  • Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner answers a question from the defense before the jury enters the courtroom Saturday, Oct 24, 2009.
  • Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner addresses the defense before the start of court Saturday, Oct 24, 2009. Seated at the defense table from left are Lemaricus Davidson and his defense attorneys Doug A. Trant, center, and David M. Eldridge, right.
  • Knox County Criminal Court Judge Richard Baumgartner, standing at the bench, listens to an objection from defense attorney David M. Eldridge on Saturday. The defense raised an objection about a autopsy photograph that the prosecution displayed on Friday.
  • Lemaricus Davidson, the alleged ringleader of the torture-slaying of Knoxville couple Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom, was in court Saturday for the sixth day of his trial in Knox County Criminal Court. If convicted, he is facing the death penalty.
  • Defense witness Ethel Lynn Freeman, right, answers questions on cross examination from Knox County Assistant Attorney General Takisha Fitzgerald, left, during testimony Saturday monring in the trial of Lemaricus Davidson.
  • Defense attorney David M. Eldridge consults his notes during his cross examination of Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, Knox County medical examiner, on Saturday, Oct 24, 2009.
  • Defense witness Ethel Lynn Freeman identifies Lemaricus Davidson's house on Chipman Street for Knox County Assistant Attorney General Takisha Fitzgerald on cross examination on Saturday, Oct 24, 2009.
  • Gary Christian, father of Channon Christian, listens to defense attorney David M. Eldridge cross examine Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan, Knox County medical examiner on Saturday morning, Oct 24, 2009.
  • Fred Nelson, worked for LCUB since 1966; appointed general manager in November 2003; replaced Friday, officially retiring in January 2010; Matt Brookshire’s father-in-law
  • Matt Brookshire, Lenoir City mayor; LCUB board of directors chair; Fred Nelson’s sonin- law
  • Prosecutor Takisha Fitzgerald questions Deena Christian, mother of murder victim Channon Christian, during the capital murder trial of Lemaricus Davidson on Tuesday in Knox County Criminal Court.
  • Lemaricus Davidson is escorted from court on the second day of his capital murder trial Tuesday. Davidson is on trial for the January 2007 torture slayings of Channon Christian, 21, and Christopher Newsom, 23.
  • G. Kevin Hardin, right, trustee for Jefferson Federal Savings and Loan of Morristown, conducts an auction of the Hardy Building. Tony Carasso, left, president of the Knoxville branch of Jefferson Federal, was the winning bidder.
  • While Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe was presiding over a reception honoring the national basketball champions Lady Vols, his son, J. Victor, held by the mayor's wife, Joan, was making friends with Tyler Summitt, who was held by his mother, Lady Vols Coach Pat Summitt. The reception was held April 30, 1991 at Candy Factory at the World's Fair Park.
  • The Knoxville Fire Department Honor Guard including Senior Firefighter Harrison James, right, stands at attention Tuesday during the rendering of colors at a memorial service at Headquarters Station. KFD’s annual Firefighter Memorial Service & Luncheon honors firefighters who have died in the line of duty and those who have died in the past year.
  • Knoxville Fire Department Capt. Carla Jones places a rose in a vase for each firefighter who died in the line of duty and retired members who have died since the last memorial service.
  • Election officer Clark Hamilton waits for voters in the City Council race Tuesday at the Norwood Library polling location on Merchants Drive.
  • Metropolitan Drug Commission Project Director Leah Adinolfi, left, and Executive Director Catherine Brunson move into the agency’s new offices at the former Lyons View Elementary School.
  • Torture murder defendant Lemaricus Davidson, center, sits between defense attorneys Doug A. Trant, left, and David M. Eldridge during a motions hearing Friday, September 18, 2009 in Knox County Criminal Court.
  • Grupo Santa Cruz celebrates Mexican Independence Day during the launch of The Big Read on Wednesday at the Square Room on Market Square. The communitywide reading program features Rudolfo Anaya’s “Bless Me, Ultima,” which explores Hispanic culture.
  • Family members of murder defendant Letalvis Cobbins listen as the jury finds him guilty of multiple charges in the murders of Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom.
  • Murder defendant Letalvis Cobbins, left, looks at his family as a jury returns guilty verdicts against him. In addition to finding him guilty of first-degree murder in Christian’s slaying, he was found guilty of facilitating Christopher Newsom’s murder.
  • Gary and Deena Christian, the parents of torture slaying victim Channon Christian, react Tuesday as a jury finds Letalvis Cobbins guilty of the murder of their daughter in Knox County Criminal Court.
  • Mary Newsom
  • Deena Christian
  • Gary Christian
  • Hugh Newsom
  • Former University of Tennessee basketball player Ramar Smith waits for his preliminary hearing on armed robbery charges on Thursday in Knox County General Sessions Court.
  • Alleged robbery victim Kinder Cole Tuckwiller is cross-examined Thursday during the hearing for Smith and his co-defendant Kaoun Kaihani.
  • Kaoun Kaihani, 23, faces aggravated robbery charges, along with former University of Tennessee basketball player Ramar Smith.
  • Ramar Smith, 21, confers with his attorney, Mary Littleton, during a hearing in Knox County Felony Court Thursday. Smith's co-defendant, Kaoun Kaihani, 23, is shown in the back right.
  • Kinder Cole Tuckwiller, 23, testified Thursday during a preliminary hearing in Knox County General Sessions Court.
  • Kinder Tuckwiller is cross-examined during a preliminary hearing for a former University of Tennessee basketball player and a co-defendant, Ramar Smith. Smith and co-defendant, Kaoun Kaihani, are charged with the May 18 armed robbery of Tuckwiller at Steeplechase apartments in North Knoxville.
  • Kaoun Kaihani, 23, face charges of aggravated robbery along with co-defendant Ramar Smith, 21. Both men appeared in Knox County Felony court Thursday morning.
  • Former University of Tennessee basketball player Ramar Smith, 21 waits for court to start Thursday morning.
  • Kaoun Kaihani, 23, left, and Ramar Smith, 21, listen as defense attorney John Eldridge.
  • Kaoun Kaihani, 23, left, and Ramar Smith, 21, appeared in Knox County Court Thursday.

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