Pervis Payne was wrongfully convicted of a double homicide in 1988 of Charisse Christopher and her daughter, Lacie. Pervis found her, her daughter, and her son with multiple stab wounds, crying for help- but Pervis knew that either way, he would be blamed for the murder due to the color of his skin, so instead of helping, he ran. 

Pervis Payne is one of the many innocent black people on death row. The villainization and criminalization of black and brown folks is extremely harmful, and until we are able to get rid of the dangerous stereotypes that people force on to POC, racism will always be apparent in our society.