In the electron energy spectra used to determine life-times of the metastable three electron (ls 2s 2p) 4P5/2-state in nitrogen, oxygen, and neon a triple peak structure is observed. The peak with the highest transition energy corresponds to the decay of the 4P5/2-state. A second transition is attributed to the decay of the (Is 2s2) 2S1/2-state. The relatively long life-time of this non-metastable state may be due to cascading effects