Appeals court upholds Pervis Payne sentencing decision
Pervis Payne sits next to his attorney Kelley Henry while in Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan's courtroom July 16, 2021. Payne Payne, 54, has been on death row since his 1988, but has maintained his innocence for the past three decades. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
The Tennessee Criminal Court of Appeals has affirmed a 2022 ruling from a local judge, allowing former death row inmate Pervis Payne to serve his two life sentences concurrently, making him eligible for parole in four years.
Aarron Fleming
Once an intern, he never left, joining the staff full-time in 2022 as an education reporter. He moved to public safety in 2023, where he covered some of the city’s biggest court cases, including the criminal trials for those charged in the deaths of Tyré Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also chronicled the Shelby County Jail and the deaths that have occurred at the facility.
He now provides suburban coverage, focusing on DeSoto County and the surrounding municipalities.
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