Mary Collins’ convicted killers begin life sentences in state prison

RALEIGH, N.C. — Two men convicted on killing a woman in NoDa in 2020 are now in state prison.

Lavi Pham and James Salerno have been booked into Central Prison. The maximum-security facility is in Raleigh.

Both men are serving life sentences for murdering Mary Collins.

Collins was killed in a brutal stabbing at an apartment complex in NoDa by a group of people she thought were her friends.

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Pham and Salerno were each found guilty of first-degree murder by torture, first-degree murder by premeditation, malice and deliberation, and first-degree kidnapping and concealment of death on Oct. 12.

Another woman, Kelly Lavery, was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison for Mary Collins’ murder.

A fourth person, America Diehl, is charged with concealing Collins’ death and accessory after the fact. She testified in the latest trial but has not been tried herself yet.