Family of woman stabbed 133 times incensed after alleged killer makes bond in North Carolina
The family of a young, intellectually disabled woman brutally murdered and stuffed inside a mattress in North Carolina is incensed after one of her alleged killers was allowed out on bond.
lawandcrime.com
The family of a young, intellectually disabled woman brutally murdered and stuffed inside a mattress in North Carolina is incensed after one of her alleged killers was allowed out on bond.
Mary Collins was 21 when she was stabbed 133 times at an apartment in the NoDa neighborhood of Charlotte. Her body was found – hidden and covered in plastic wrap – on April 4, 2020.
Four people have been charged in her murder.
Her family says she had roughly the mental capacity of a 15-year-old due to her diagnosis of 22q deletion syndrome, also known as DiGeorge Syndrome, said to be the second-most common genetic disorder behind Down’s Syndrome.
The day after Collins was found, Salerno and two others – Lavi Pham, 23, and Kelly Lavery, 24 – were arrested and charged with the same three crimes. Prosecutors allege that Pham and Lavery, who the woman knew to be her friends, lured her to their apartment and planned to kill her in retribution for refusing to have sex with them both simultaneously, according to the Observer.
Salerno spent over three years in jail and was initially denied bond before he was released. Lavery pleaded guilty last year to her role in the slaying and is serving a minimum 25-to-32-year sentence in state prison. Pham is in jail and awaiting trial. He and Salerno have both pleaded not guilty in the case.
