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Two men convicted in Mary Collins’ NoDa killing transferred to Raleigh prison
Lavi Pham and James Salerno have been booked into Central Prison after receiving life sentences for Mary Collins’ 2020 killing in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood. A third woman has been sentenced in the case, while another defendant’s charges remain unresolved.
Two men convicted in the 2020 killing of Mary Collins in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood are now serving life sentences at Central Prison in Raleigh, state records show.
Lavi Pham and James Salerno were booked into the maximum-security prison after their convictions. On Oct. 12, jurors found both men guilty of first-degree murder by torture, first-degree murder based on premeditation, malice and deliberation, kidnapping and concealing a death.
Collins was stabbed at an apartment complex by people she considered friends, according to the case summary. The convictions bring the men into state custody after a trial that included testimony from another person charged in connection with the case.
Kelly Lavery, another woman involved in the killing, was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison. America Diehl is charged with concealing Collins’ death and being an accessory after the fact. She testified during the trial of Pham and Salerno but has not yet been tried.