A Mecklenburg County jury began deliberating Friday, Oct. 9, in the murder trial of Lavi Pham and James Salerno, who are charged in the 2020 killing of Mary Collins inside a NoDa apartment in Charlotte. The jury heard closing arguments lasting more than three hours after a three-week trial. Prosecutors presented evidence and testimony from the proceedings, including autopsy photographs and videos recorded in the hours before Collins was killed. The jury began its deliberations shortly after 3 p.m. Prosecutors allege Collins was raped and stabbed 130 times, and that her body was concealed inside a mattress for several days. Pham and Salerno face charges including murder, kidnapping and concealing a death. Assistant District Attorney Monica Noble argued that evidence, including text messages, showed Pham and his then-girlfriend, Kelly Lavery, had discussed drugging Collins. Noble also pointed to what prosecutors characterized as inconsistencies between Pham’s police interview and his trial testimony. Pham’s attorney, Miranda Mills, argued that her client’s acknowledgment that he concealed Collins’ body did not make him guilty of murder. She said Collins had chosen to take drugs and described conflict with her grandmother. Salerno’s attorney, Christopher McCartan, argued that the evidence did not show Salerno directly participated in the killing and said the two defendants were not acting together. Lavery pleaded guilty to charges connected to Collins’ death and received a prison sentence of 25 to 32 years. A fourth person, America Diehl, has been charged with concealing a death and has not yet gone to trial. No verdict had been announced when deliberations began. The jury must decide whether prosecutors proved the charges against Pham and Salerno.