Payne v. Tennessee

On Saturday, 27 June 1987, Pervis Tyrone Payne visited the apartment of his girlfriend, Bobbie Thomas, in Millington, Tennessee, awaiting her return from an out-of-town trip. Across the hall from Thomas lived Payne's three victims, Charisse Christopher, her two-year-old daughter Lacie, and her three-year-old son Nicholas. While waiting for Thomas to return home, Payne spent the late morning and early afternoon injecting cocaine and drinking beer. Later, he and a friend drove around in the friend's car, taking turns reading a pornographic magazine.

Payne returned to the apartment complex around 3:00 p.m., entered the Christopher apartment and made sexual advances toward Charisse Christopher. When she resisted, Payne stabbed Charisse 84 times with a butcher knife. She died from massive bleeding. He also stabbed Lacie and Nicholas. Lacie died next to her mother, but Nicholas survived Payne's attack. The murder weapon, a butcher knife, was left near Lacie.

When she heard screaming from the Christopher apartment, a neighbor phoned the police, who arrived shortly thereafter, and encountered Payne as he was leaving the building. Payne was soaked in blood, and carrying his overnight bag. When confronted by the officer, Payne struck him with the overnight bag and fled.