SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — For more than 33 years, Pervis Payne has sat on death row, but support for his release has grown significantly in the last year.
Wednesday night, events across Tennessee and the country marked the one-year anniversary of “#FreePervisPayne rallies.”
The Memphis rally was held where it got its start - at the intersection of McLean and Union Ave. from 4 to 5 p.m. The rallies there started on Sept. 9, 2020, and have been held nearly weekly since.
“What we’re trying to do is, first and foremost, bring attention to the case, bring awareness to this case,” Rev. Dr. Andre Johnson said. “Then, secondly, to get the powers that be the people that can actually help bring Pervis home, to re-examine and look at this case again.”
The rallies started after Johnson did a Facebook Live “call to action” asking people to come out and support the case.
Payne was convicted of the 1987 murder of Charisse Cristopher and her two-year-old daughter. Police said they found him at the scene of the crime with blood on him. Payne, who has maintained his innocence, said he discovered the scene after hearing calls for help. He ran from the scene out of fear of being blamed.
Governor Bill Lee delayed Payne's execution in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Supporters said he should not be on death row at all because he lives with an intellectual disability. The Supreme Court rule states a person living with an intellectual disability cannot be executed.
“An injustice has happened and it is always the right time to correct an injustice," Johnson said. "So, we are trying to continue to bear witness and to make it known that Pervis Payne should be at home and should not be on death row.”
Over the last year, support has grown significantly. The Innocence Project got involved in helping create PervisPayne.org.
To date, around 750,000 people have signed a petition asking that Payne be released. The goal is to get one million signatures.
The next hearing scheduled for Payne's case is on Dec. 13th. A state expert is scheduled that day to present an evaluation on whether Payne does have an intellectual disability, which would mean he should legally be taken off death row.
