They Hid Her Body in a Mattress and Slept On Her For Days

20-year-old Mary Santina Collins was born on July 6, 1999. She resided with her grandmother, Mia Alderman, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mary was described as a lovely young woman who was sweet, energetic, and kind. According to her aunt, Cara Williams, Mary had such a light about her. She also went on to describe her niece as loving and silly. Her elementary school principal, Caroline Horn, described her as a beautiful little girl who always wanted a hug in the hallway. Overall, Mary was just a joy to be around, and no one had anything negative to say about her. She was very artistic and enjoyed playing the guitar.

The Reality of 22q11 Deletion Syndrome

Mary was born with a rare genetic disorder known as 22q11 deletion syndrome, simply known as 22q, which is caused by a small missing piece of the 22nd chromosome. This disorder can affect every system in the human body. Most people with 22q have some variation of heart, immune, learning, speech, or behavior difficulties. It is believed to be the second most common genetic disorder behind Down syndrome, yet most people have never heard of it at all.

22q caused Mary to be born with an internal cleft palate, which caused a severe speech impediment. Due to this, Mary was very shy and would only speak to her close friends and family members. She had poor eyesight and wore glasses, but would often forego them when dressed up. She also had learning difficulties which made day-to-day tasks a challenge. Where an average 20-year-old girl could go to the mall and go shopping, this was difficult for Mary to navigate, as she had a hard time counting change and could easily find herself disoriented even in her own neighborhood.

According to her aunt, Alex Gallo:

“Mary could take care of herself to an extent, but there was no way in hell she could navigate anything or go out into the world and know where she was going.”

Despite this, Mary had been practicing getting around on her own with the help of her family in her South Charlotte neighborhood. She would use her phone’s GPS to navigate her way on walks. She would also Uber to friends’ houses but was, by and large, dependent on whomever she was with to get her back home. However, none of this dampened Mary’s spirit. She was a beautiful girl that liked to experiment with wigs and makeup like many young women her age. She was an innocent soul; in fact, “innocent” was a word that often came up while researching Mary’s case. According to her aunt Cara, she had the mentality of a 14- or 15-year-old. Mary also saw the best in everyone, even if they didn’t deserve it—even if they were bullying her. Her trusting nature made her a target for those who would wish to manipulate and take advantage of her kindness.

A Fatal Invitation

On March 28, 2020, 24-year-old Kelly Lavery and her boyfriend, 21-year-old Lavi Pham, invited Mary over to their apartment to hang out. Lavi and Mary had been friends in high school and briefly dated. Now, this invitation was strange because, according to Mary’s family, Kelly was a jealous, “mean girl” type that had been bullying Mary on social media for months. Apparently, Kelly had been calling Mary disgusting and would encourage her to take her own life. But as we mentioned earlier, Mary saw the best in everyone, even if they did not deserve it.

The couple lived in an upscale apartment complex known as The Yards in Charlotte’s hipster neighborhood known as NoDa. At around 2:30 PM, the pair sent an Uber to pick up Mary and bring her back to their place, as she didn’t know how to drive. Mary’s grandmother asked the driver not to take her, and the driver replied, “She’s grown, I’m taking her,” and then the car drove off. Due to the prior bullying, Mia had a bad feeling about this trip.

As I’m sure you’ll remember, the end of March was the beginning of many of the 2020 lockdowns across the country. March 28th marked the day that North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper shut down the state. For young adults that were used to having a social life, this was particularly difficult. Mary was so excited to go hang out with some friends, even if they had treated her poorly in the past.

However, this wasn’t going to be the normal hangout session with friends that Mary had hoped for. The couple bought sushi, one of Mary’s favorite foods, and posted videos on social media so that everyone would think that she was fine. The three later joined up with Jimmy Salerno, a friend of Kelly and Lavi.

According to the publication Queen City Nerve, things went south after Mary declined to participate in a three-way with Kelly and Lavi. Allegedly upset about the rejection, the couple sought Jimmy’s help and used Xanax to drug Mary.

The Attack and Concealment

While Mary was incapacitated, the three of them brutally attacked her, which resulted in her death. The couple tied Mary up, put a dog leash around her neck, and beat her in the bathtub. According to her autopsy report, Mary was tortured and stabbed upwards of 133 times, stab wounds covering her entire body. Many of these wounds were shallow in nature—too shallow to hit an organ or a major artery. With this in mind, it’s reasonable to conclude that Mary suffered in fear and agony for some time before she finally succumbed to her wounds. Her cause of death was listed as multiple sharp trauma injuries. (As the autopsy report and probable cause affidavit are over 30 pages long, we’ll have links for you to view those in the show notes if you wish to learn more.)

Jimmy then called 18-year-old America Diehl to help clean up the mess. However, America didn’t really know Jimmy; he was just somebody that she had met on Tinder. They covered Mary’s body with Cascade dish detergent and pumpkin spice shower gel to mask the smell of decomposition. Mary was then wrapped in duct tape, Saran Wrap, and placed into a trash bag.

The four of them decided to go one step further: they carefully placed the trash bag inside of the couple’s mattress. They planned to later dispose of the mattress by burning it, and allegedly, Lavi was trying to pay someone to help him get rid of it. According to America Diehl, Kelly Lavery was the ringleader and was giving orders to everyone else as far as what should be done.

The Desperate Search

When Mary didn’t return home, nor did she respond to her grandmother’s calls or texts, Mia Alderman tracked her granddaughter’s cell phone down. It was easy for her to see that Mary’s last known usage was at The Yards, as they shared a family plan. Mary also went dark on social media, which was unlike her. Really, it’s unlike any 20-year-old, especially one that’s having a night out with friends. However, due to the fact that Lavi had posted the video on social media of the trio eating sushi and having a good time together, Mia chalked Mary’s lack of contact up to her forgetting her charger and her battery dying. At the time, Mia had also become preoccupied with getting enough groceries and goods for quarantine; as I’m sure you’ll remember, this was quite a chaotic time.

But after more time passed, Mia went to pick up her granddaughter. Upon arriving at The Yards, Mia looked around for some clue as to where Mary could be. She found a mailbox with Kelly’s name and apartment number, then went to buzz herself in. When nobody answered, Mia stood outside waiting until another resident let her in the building. Once in, she rushed to the third floor and knocked on the door, screaming Mary’s name. She was met by Kelly Lavery and Lavi Pham, who told Mia that Mary had already left.

The grandmother was certain that this could not be true, as Mary’s disability made it highly unlikely that she would have left on her own. Furthermore, Mary needed her phone to navigate about town, and it hadn’t been active since her arrival at the apartment. Mary had also broken her glasses prior to the weekend and wouldn’t have been able to go far without them by herself.

Police Inaction and Frustration

Armed with this information, Mia filed a missing person’s report with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) at 11:00 PM on March 30th. According to the CMPD, more than 3,500 people are reported missing in Charlotte annually. 70% are teenagers, mostly runaways, while the other 30% are adults, and on average, less than 10 per year end up being the result of foul play. According to the website: “Being a missing person is not a crime. Adults can go missing if they choose to.”

However, Mary’s family felt that filing a missing person’s report didn’t make sense, as they knew Mary was still in the apartment, and worked diligently to explain to the detective assigned to the case that she was in extreme danger. Not knowing what else to do, Mia followed CMPD protocol and went home to file the police report, believing the police would then go inside and get her granddaughter.

However, according to Mia:

“The officer who responded to my call goes into the apartment and knocks on the door. There was no response, and so she left.”

Aware of the lack of urgency on CMPD’s part, Mia kept a rotation going at the apartment complex, with at least one family member or friend always watching who was coming and going. At one point, Lavi let Mia and Mary’s mother, Casey Del Pezzo, into the apartment to look for Mary. Mia was not allowed in the back bedroom, but Casey was quickly guided through by an agitated Lavi.

Eventually, Joshua Gaskin, the detective handling Mary’s case, told the family to stop harassing the couple. However, the family understandably refused to ease up on them. Detective Gaskin’s inaction also caused surveillance footage from The Yards to be lost. Mia asked the detective to see the footage from the apartment complex’s cameras from the 28th through the 30th to confirm whether Mary had left. According to Mia, Detective Gaskin told her they would need a warrant, though she found out later that that information was inaccurate. On April 3rd, Mia was given permission by the complex’s corporate office to view the footage without warrants. By this time, however, a new month had started, and March 28th had been completely erased.

Overall, Detective Gaskin did not take Mary’s case seriously at all. He became exasperated with the family, even once blurting out to Mia, “Do you understand that she’s not in there?” Despite countless family members begging for help, Detective Gaskin took one tip seriously: according to Mia, somebody called in and told the detective that Mary had done this before and that she runs off with guys all of the time. Not only was this allegation not true, but it was nearly impossible given her disorder. Neither Detective Gaskin nor any other CMPD officials ever called to confirm the claim with them.

The Discovery

Around the same time, Jimmy Salerno became loose-lipped and began bragging about the crime to others. He even went as far as to claim that he had pictures of Mary’s body on his phone. In turn, the witnesses reported their findings to the CMPD.

On April 2nd, police met with Lavi Pham at the couple’s NoDa apartment, and they were allowed to conduct a search. Lavi’s level of hubris was so disgusting; he walked the detectives to the master bedroom himself and lifted the mattress in front of them. There was no Mary, and believing that she wasn’t in the apartment, the police left empty-handed.

On April 4th, the witness that had filed the report contacted them back along with a second witness, insisting that Mary was indeed in the mattress. The CMPD returned to The Yards, this time armed with a search warrant. When they opened up the mattress, they found Mary’s body wrapped in a black trash bag, which had been extremely well concealed. Mary’s bank card and $90 were hidden in the bedroom under a stack of papers, and blood was located throughout the master bedroom and bath. Saran Wrap, duct tape, and a box of contractor-grade trash bags were also located in the apartment.

This same day, Lavi posted a picture to his now-banned Twitter account of a cartoon duck holding a knife with one single word: “Yes.”

Arrests and Justice Delayed

Kelly Lavery, Lavi Pham, and Jimmy Salerno were arrested on April 5th and charged with homicide, kidnapping, and concealment of a death. The couple were arrested in their apartment, with Kelly being so intoxicated from drugs the police had to shake her to wake her up. Jimmy was taken into custody at his home in the University neighborhood. Jimmy was also charged with driving while impaired and possession with intent to sell or deliver Schedule II drugs. (It was not listed exactly what drugs he had on him; he had prior arrests for armed robbery and drug possession as a teenager). Kelly, too, had a prior record for simple assault.

America Diehl turned herself in to authorities in Colorado after learning that an arrest warrant had been issued. She was charged with felony accessory after the fact and concealment of a death, and was extradited back to North Carolina. She bonded out on September 18, 2021, and is now living with family in Clover, North Carolina.

As of the date of this recording, only Kelly Lavery has been convicted, and it was because she took a plea deal. She pled guilty to second-degree homicide and was sentenced to 25 to 32 years in prison. She is currently being held at the Anson Correctional Institution with a projected release date of June 22, 2047. She will be 52 years old—plenty of time for her to live the life that she stole from Mary.

(A note to the family: I am so sorry that you’re hurting. Mary’s death is a tragedy, it never should have happened, and I wish there was something I could do to take away your pain.)

According to a spokesperson from the DA’s office:

“Plea arrangements provide crime victims and their families a level of finality that they may not receive with a trial, particularly by avoiding the inherent uncertainties involved in the outcome of any given jury trial. Additionally, plea offers ensure that a defendant takes responsibility for their crime and is held accountable for their actions. Our office offers plea arrangements in nearly every case and has done so even before experiencing pandemic-related court closures. We currently have approximately 350 defendants facing pending homicide charges; of those, 116 have pled not guilty and are awaiting trial.”

However, this didn’t sit well with Mary’s family. According to her grandmother, Mia Alderman:

“Nobody is going to tell me that the value of Mary’s life is 25 years. Mary matters more than that.”

Honoring Mary and Seeking Change

Due to lockdowns, Mary’s family couldn’t provide her with the funeral that they wanted to give her. Due to the state of her body, they couldn’t even see her one last time to say goodbye. On July 5, 2020, the eve of her 21st birthday, Mary’s family held a small, private graveside service. Only 10 people were allowed to attend due to regulations. According to an Instagram post, she was buried with a rose from her grandmother’s favorite rose bush, a tin containing holy water from her great-grandmother’s funeral, a rosary, an item blessed by Mother Teresa, and a relic.

Mary’s family is now seeking justice through their organization, Mary’s Voice, which seeks policy change in missing persons investigations, especially when they involve differently-abled individuals. Because Mary was never truly missing and was believed to be held against her will for some unknown time, her family wants different protocols put in place that allow those closest to the victims to have more say over whether the person reported missing is deemed to be in immediate danger.

In 2007, North Carolina implemented the Silver Alert system. This was intended to assist in missing persons cases involving people who suffer from Alzheimer’s or other cognitive impairments that make them susceptible to harm. A case only qualifies for a Silver Alert if the subject meets all of these criteria:

1. The person is believed to be missing.

2. They have dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or a disability that requires them to be protected from potential abuse or other physical harm, neglect, or exploitation.

3. A legal custodian has reported the person missing to local law enforcement.

4. The local law enforcement agency has then reported the incident to the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons.

The North Carolina Center for Missing Persons is the only agency able to activate a Silver Alert and will only do so at the request of the investigating law enforcement agency. Like Amber Alerts do for missing children, a Silver Alert sends out an alert to the media as well as to electronic billboards in other locations.

A Silver Alert was never issued for Mary Collins’ case, and the family suspects that it is a direct result of the inaction of Detective Gaskin. Though her family reported her missing on March 30th, the CMPD did not issue a missing person’s bulletin for Mary until April 3rd—exactly one day prior to her body being found exactly where her family said it would be.

According to Mia:

“When you go to the police, you just hear them say, ‘Our officers followed policy and procedure.’ Okay, so your policy and procedure is severely flawed and you need to change it.”

In Mary’s case, it is fortunate that her killers were so brazen, so self-absorbed, that they gave police enough justification to obtain a search warrant. However, this raises a very important question: if they just kept their mouths shut, would Mary’s body have ever been found? At this point in our story, it appears the police completely wrote off Mary’s disappearance due to a false tip that she ran away frequently. Would Mary’s family still be petitioning the police to this day trying to get them to take action?