A Tennessee inmate scheduled to be executed in December is continuing to push for DNA testing of the evidence in his case, arguing that doing so will exonerate him.
The 53-year-old Pervis Payne has always maintained his innocence in the 1987 stabbing deaths of Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie Jo. Christopher’s son, Nicholas, who was 3 at the time, was stabbed but survived.
At the time of Payne’s trial, DNA testing of evidence was unavailable, and no testing has ever been done in his case.
A prosecutor is fighting the request, countering that the Tennessee Supreme Court has already ruled on DNA testing.
