CHARLOTTE — Jurors returned to the courtroom on Monday to determine the fate of two men on trial.
Mary Collins was lured to a NoDa apartment in March of 2020, where she was restrained, sexually assaulted, and stabbed to death, prosecutors said.
James Salerno’s attorney challenged the state’s case, arguing his client had no personal reason to harm 20-year-old Collins.
Lavi Pham’s attorney argues his then-girlfriend, Kelly Lavery, was responsible for the killing.
“Mary wasn’t confined, restrained. She was having a good time, until Kelly decided to go crazy that night,” Miranda Mills, Pham’s defense attorney, said last week.
“Do not lose sight of Mary’s voice,” said prosecutor Monica Noble. “Mary was discovered like trash. Mary was discarded like trash.”
Prosecutors said Collins was stabbed more than 130 times, bound in duct tape, wrapped in trash bags and placed inside a mattress.
The jury is expected to decide whether prosecutors have proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Previous coverage:
- Defense rests case in trial of NoDa woman stabbed to death
- Defendant blames then-girlfriend for killing woman in NoDa apartment
- Suspect denies killing Charlotte woman, testifies about drug use in NoDa murder trial
- Testimony details how Mary Collins’ body was found as murder trial continues
- Body camera footage shown in NoDa murder trial of Mary Collins
- Mother recounts learning daughter’s body was found as NoDa murder trial continues
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