Woman charged in connection with Charlotte homicide can remain free, judge rules
A woman charged in connection with a brutal, five-year-old Charlotte homicide can remain free despite repeated violations of her court-ordered electronic ankle monitoring, a Mecklenburg County judge ruled Friday.
America Diehl was indicted on charges of accessory after the fact of first-degree murder and concealment of a body in the 2020 killing of Mary Collins.
Collins, a 20-year-old with a cognitive disability, died after prosecutors said she was lured to an apartment and stabbed 133 times.
Kelly Lavery, one of four defendants charged in the case, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. But more than five years after the attack, the others haven’t been tried. They include Diehl, who has been allowed to stay with her mother and grandmother in their Clover, South Carolina, home, court records show.
Although Diehl has cooperated with investigators, she should be returned to jail on a $500,000 bond for repeatedly failing to charge her electric ankle monitor over the years, including as recently as Oct. 9, prosecutor Bill Bunting told Judge David Strickland Friday. She’s been free on $150,000 bond, court records show.
Diehl’s lawyer, Lambert Guinn, said Diehl has complied with other orders of her bond, including a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew. She had no previous criminal history and poses no flight risk, he said.
“She was 18 years old when this happened and was forced into a terrible situation,” Guinn said. “She goes to work. She has stayed out of trouble as much as possible. Her willingness to help, to participate (in the cases against the other defendants) has not changed.”
Strickland also agreed with Guinn regarding the unreliability of electronic ankle monitoring and ruled that Diehl no longer has to wear one.
None of which excuses Diehl’s allegedly having “stuffed Mary in a mattress,” Bunting told Strickland.
Diehl “could have prevented Mary’s death” by calling 911 the night of the attack, Collins’ mother, Kasei Canfora, told the judge. For days, she failed to notify police as to where Collins’ body was hidden, Canfora said.
“But I have no control over the justice (system),” Canfora told the judge.
Collins’ family members reacted with anguish in the courtoom after the ruling.
“Get ready for hell,” one said loudly to Diehl as the family exited the courtroom.
‘Justice I did not get,’ mom of homicide victim says
Collins’ grandmother, Mia Alderman, said outside the courtroom later that she was “dumbfounded” by the ruling.
“I cannot believe this,” she said. “I’m literally in shock.”
Outside the courthouse after Friday’s hearing, Canfora reiterated her disappointment in the ruling.
“The mother, the person who carried her for nine months and gave birth to her, gets no say at all, other than to express my heartfelt pain and plead with the judge to give me some kind of justice, which I did not get at all,” Canfora said.
“And it’s not just me,” she said. “It happens over and over again, and it’s unacceptable.”
This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 7:02 PM.