A Charlotte woman was stabbed 133 times. Now, a suspect in her death is being released.
One of the accused killers in the murder of a Charlotte woman in 2020 has been released from Mecklenburg County Jail.
James Salerno, 22, had bond set at $250,000 in Mecklenburg County Court in January. He posted bond and was released on Saturday, Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office records show.
Mary Collins, a 21-year-old with an intellectual disability, was found dead, stabbed 133 times and hidden in a mattress in a NoDA apartment on April 4, 2020, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Mia Alderman, Collins’ grandmother who raised her, said in an interview Monday that the justice system betrayed Collins by allowing another one of the suspects in her case to bond out of jail.
Previously the courts granted bond to America Diehl, one of the other four people charged in the case.
“Mary’s been betrayed over and over again,” Alderman said. “The justice system is not there for her, and that hurts.“
When people ask Alderman to describe her reaction to Salerno’s release she tells them to picture the most vulnerable person in their family. The person who needs a little extra help, who may have a disability or another reason to need protection. be protected.
“That’s the person they stabbed 133 times. That’s the person that thought they were just going to go and have fun with friends and (they) bashed her head in, forced drugs down her throat, wrapped her in plastic and put her in a mattress,” Alderman said. “And then she was there for a week decomposed and you never saw her again.”
If people can picture this, they become closer to understanding the pain Collins’ family feels, Alderman said.
Collins had 22q deletion syndrome, also known as DiGeorge Syndrome. It’s the second-most common genetic disorder behind Down’s Syndrome, according to the International 22q11.3 Foundation. Her family has said her cognitive abilities were similar to that of a 15-year-old.
After Collins’ death, Alderman started an advocacy group called “Mary’s Voice” which advocates for justice in her case, and in the legislature for other victims with disabilities.
“Mary was just the epitome of a beautiful soul and she matters,” Alderman said. “People who have disabilities matter. They’re not disposable, they have value.”
What happened to Mary Collins?
Collins was lured to the NoDA apartment by Kelly Lavery, 24, and Lavi Pham, 23, who planned in text messages to murder her for refusing a threesome with them, prosecutors said in court last June.
Salerno, 22, later helped to conceal her death, prosecutors and police claim.
The day after Collins was found, police charged Lavery, Pham, and Salerno, with murder and kidnapping, public records show. Pham and Salerno also were charged with concealing a death.
Later Diehl, 18, was charged with accessory after the fact and concealing a death, CMPD officials said.
Diehl was released on bond in 2021, according to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office’s website.
In June, Lavery took a plea deal and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, concealment of a body and first-degree kidnapping charges. She was sentenced to up to 32 years in prison, the Observer reported at the time.
At his last court hearing Pham pleaded not guilty to murder and kidnapping charges.
Alderman said she and Collins’ family believe all four suspects should serve life in prison, and that they should not be allowed bond or plea deals.
“It’s devastating that something like this could happen to her,” she said, “that they could target her based on her vulnerability... and heinously murder her and be given bond,” she said.
