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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Death row inmate Pervis Payne appeared inside a Tennessee courtroom wearing plain clothes for the first time since 2007 Friday. Before his hearing, a crowd of supporters and family gathered outside the courthouse for a prayer vigil. “We have an overwhelming love from the community that is standing with us and behind […]

A hearing on DNA testing connected to the Pervis Payne case will take place on Tuesday.

Tennessee lawmakers are advancing legislation designed to prevent death row inmates with an intellectual disability from being executed.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee governor Bill Lee has granted temporary reprieve for Tennessee death row inmate Pervis Payne. “I am granting Pervis Payne a temporary reprieve from execution until April 9, 2021, due to the challenges and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lee said in a statement released Friday afternoon. Payne was convicted of […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A judge on Monday filed an order dismissing Pervis Payne’s DNA petition. On July 22, attorneys for the Tennessee death row inmate filed a petition for DNA testing to be performed on several key pieces evidence. The court granted the request in September. READ: Pervis Payne DNA Final Order The results from […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – – A new bill filed by Tennessee lawmakers could save the life of a Millington man on death row. 53-year-old Pervis Payne says he has an intellectual disability, which would mean he can’t be executed. However, currently, there’s no procedure for him to make his claim in a Tennessee court. “The gap […]

A Tennessee death row inmate is asking a federal judge to postpone his December execution, arguing that he is intellectually disabled.

A Tennessee death row inmate who has always claimed innocence is asking the governor to commute his sentence to life in prison.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Dozens of supporters held a rally for Pervis Payne on his behalf, on Saturday. His supporters stood with the ‘I am a Man’ plaza as the backdrop, with many of them wearing his name on their shirts.  Some offered Payne words of encouragement, to keep fighting, as they are on his behalf. […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It’s now up to a judge to decide if evidence should be tested for DNA in the case of Pervis Payne, a man who’s served decades behind bars in a murder case.  Payne, who was convicted of killing Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter at a Millington apartment back in 1988, is […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A judge could decide whether evidence needs to be tested for DNA in a decades old murder case. It involves a Millington man who’s on death row after being convicted of killing a woman and her two-year-old daughter. In 1987, Pervis Payne was convicted of stabbing 28-year-old Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old […]