CHARLOTTE — Opening statements are underway in the trial for two men accused of killing 20-year-old Mary Collins in a NoDa apartment in 2020.
On Monday the jury heard the desperate efforts Mary’s grandmother and mother took to try to find her in the days after she went missing, including both of them separately going through an apartment led by the suspects themselves.
Days later Mary was found dead in that same apartment.
“‘I just need friends.’ Those are Mary Collins’ last words,” said Mecklenburg County Prosecutor Jane Collins in court on Monday.
Prosecutors painted the picture of who Mary was: a shy 20-year-old with mental disabilities and a speech impediment who had trouble making friends.
“Mary’s words exposed her vulnerability, and these defendants used that vulnerability to take her life,” Jane Collins said.
Lavi Pham, Mary’s ex-boyfriend along with James Salerno are both on trial for her murder.
Police say they lured Mary to Pham’s NoDa apartment in 2020, sexually assaulted her, stabbed her more than 130 times, wrapped her in plastic and stuffed her in a mattress.
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But Pham’s defense team pointed the finger at Kelly Lavery, Pham’s girlfriend at the time, saying she’s the one who physically stabbed Mary.
“Lavi takes full accountability for his part in hiding Mary’s body and the horrific way it was hidden,” said Miranda Mills, Pham’s defense attorney. “But that does not make Lavi guilty of murder or kidnapping.”
The first to take the witness stand was Mary’s grandmother, Mia Alderman, who showed up at the apartment demanding that Lavery tell her where Mary was.
“I was yelling Mary’s name,” Alderman said.
She took photos while she was there, but says she was never allowed in a back bedroom.
“I was like, ‘Let me in there,” and she said, “No, you’re embarrassing me, my friends are in there,’” said Alderman.
Ultimately, prosecutors say Mary was dead in that room.
In 2022, Lavery pled guilty to second-degree murder and other charges.
Mary’s mother will continue her testimony Tuesday.
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