NC North Carolina News

A mother whose daughter was murdered two years ago is hoping to use her experience to advocate for ways to make Charlotte safer. The push comes at a time when the city has seen a spree of killings and just days after one of those charged in her daughter’s slaying pleaded not guilty.

“I wish we as a city and community could come together to work on the issues that are related because everything is interconnected,” Kasei Delpezzo told WBTV.com. 

Delpezzo knows nothing will ever bring back her daughter, Mary Collins, who was 20 when she was found brutally murdered.

Four people have been charged in the case: America Diehl, 18, James Salerno, 20, Lavi Pham, 21, and Kelly Lavery, 24. On Thursday, Salerno pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and concealing a death. 

Delpezzo wants to get the word out that things need to change, and she thinks it starts with voting and electing people who are committed to community safety.

“I want to see some people (in) office who have some experience with some real struggles because you can’t sit in office and come up with solutions to problems you’ve never experienced,” Delpezzo told the news station. “You know, like people watching right now. Until your child has been brutally murdered, you don’t know what that feels like.”

She remembers Collins as “one of the sweetest souls you’d ever meet.” Family members surmise that Collins, who had a disability, was lured into the apartment by people who acted nice but had devious intentions, the station reported.

Delpezzo has a couple of suggestions on how to curtail crime. The first is to vote, the second is to make sure criminals stay in prison, and the third is to build youth centers in city neighborhoods, things that give children constructive things to do and help build self-esteem so they’re less likely to turn to crime.

Her message is: “Nobody wins. Here I am, I don’t get my daughter back. And then there’s another set of parents over there who are waiting to find out, you know, their child is going away for whatever amount of time. Nobody wins with murder. You know, it’s just senseless.”