The murders of Charisse Christopher and her 2-year-old daughter, Lacie, by Pervis Tyrone Payne are highlighted on Impact Of Murder on Investigation Discovery.
At around 3:10 pm on June 27, 1987, an officer with the Millington Police Department was dispatched to the Hiwassee Apartments in Millington, Tennessee, after receiving a call from the manager who reported hearing a disturbance in one of the apartments.
When officer C.E. Owen arrived on the scene, he spotted Payne on the second floor, standing on a stairwell. He was covered in blood and holding an overnight bag. As Payne was walking down the stairs, the officer asked what was going on. That’s when he struck the officer with the bag and ran west on Biloxi Street—the officer was unable to catch him.
Owen then returned to the Hiwassee Apartments. He entered Christopher’s apartment and saw her lying on the kitchen floor, along with her two children.
Christopher and Lacie had been stabbed to death, but her 3-year-old son, Nicholas, who was also stabbed multiple times, was still breathing. He was transported to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where he underwent several operations and survived.
An investigation revealed that Payne went to the Hiwassee Apartments to spend time with his girlfriend, Bobbie Thomas, but she was still in Arkansas.
While he waited for her to return, he consumed alcohol and injected cocaine.
He then went to Christopher’s apartment and made sexual advances toward her. When she rejected him, he stabbed her 84 times. He stabbed Lacie nine times in the head, stomach, and chest.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelPayne was later arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault with intent to commit murder. His DNA was found on the victim’s bodies as well as on the kitchen counter and telephone.
In 1988, he was found guilty and sentenced to death and his 2018 appeal was rejected.
Impact Of Murder — My Lacie, airs at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.