BOND CONDITIONS ARE MEANINGLESS
Mecklenburg County Courts Continue To Reward Blantant Bond Violations By Murder Suspect
PRESS RELEASE — FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Immediate Release: Statement from Mary’s Family on the Hearing to Revoke America Diehl’s Bond
From: Mia Alderman /The Family of Mary Santina Collins
Date: October 12, 2025
Subject: America Ray Diehl’s bond hearing exposes total breakdown in Mecklenburg County justice system
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CHARLOTTE, NC — A HEARING THAT EXPOSED EVERYTHING WRONG WITH THIS SYSTEM
What happened in that courtroom on October 10, 2025, was more than a hearing — it was an embarrassment to the justice system and an insult to victims everywhere.
Once again, America Ray Diehl — one of the individuals charged in the brutal murder of 20-year-old Mary Santina Collins, who was bludgeoned in the head, tortured, and stabbed more than 133 times — was granted leniency despite repeated bond violations and a clear pattern of defiance.
But this time, the real story wasn’t just about Diehl.
It was about the utter chaos, indifference, and lack of accountability that unfolded inside that courtroom.
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JUST ONE WEEK AFTER TESTIFYING BEFORE FEDERAL LAWMAKERS
Just one week after testifying before federal lawmakers in a rare Judiciary Committee Field Hearing brought to Charlotte, North Carolina, because of the growing crisis facing victims of violent crimes and the Mecklenburg County bond system — and amid controversy over the accused murderer of Iryna Zarutska being out on bond — Mary Collins’s grandmother, Mia Alderman, who has fought for over half a decade to expose the failures that led to Mary’s death, found herself back in a Mecklenburg County courtroom.
This time, Alderman sat with the defendant, America Ray Diehl, directly behind her, listening as the court asked for information that she physically held in her hands — documents that could have answered the judge’s questions — yet she was not permitted to provide them.
In disbelief, Alderman and Mary’s family, friends, and community watched as Judge Strickland not only refused to revoke Diehl’s bond, but went a step further — granting her additional privileges by removing the condition of ankle monitoring entirely, even after Diehl’s own attorneys offered that they had secured a new company willing to monitor her.
> “Every time Diehl violates a bond condition, things get better for her,” Alderman said. “There are no consequences. No accountability. And no justice for Mary.”
During the same session, the courtroom heard another case — a defendant who is charged with bludgeoning his friend to death. The contrast was staggering.
Knowing what was done to Mary — that she was bludgeoned in the head, tortured, and stabbed over 133 times — and watching one of her killers, sitting only feet away, receive more leniency instead of less, left the family and community shaken.
After multiple bond violations and conditions set by at least three different judges, Alderman said she now has no reason to believe that bond conditions mean anything, or that any judge’s order in Mecklenburg County will ever be upheld beyond the monetary bond itself.
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THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE FINALLY ACTED — AND WAS IGNORED
At this hearing, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office was finally taking action on the numerous bond violations by America Diehl, formally requesting that her bond be revoked and that she be returned to the Mecklenburg County Jail under a $100,000 secured bond.
This motion should have been the moment accountability began. Instead, it was ignored.
Despite the DA’s office finally acknowledging the repeated violations and recommending custody, Judge Strickland declined to revoke the bond — choosing instead to remove one of the few remaining conditions intended to protect the community.
Alderman called it “unbelievable — a turning point that proved even when prosecutors finally act, the courts refuse to.”
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THE JUDGE HAD NO INFORMATION — BUT MARY’S GRANDMOTHER DID
Judge Strickland walked into that courtroom unarmed — not by choice, but by failure of the system around him.
He wasn’t given the facts.
He didn’t have the paperwork.
He didn’t have the answers to his own questions.
Every person in that courtroom — both the defense and the prosecution — came in unprepared.
Mary’s grandmother, Mia Alderman, however, had every single document, every violation, and every answer the judge requested — sitting right there in her hands.
It was infuriating. This wasn’t justice. It was theater — and no one had rehearsed.
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THE DEFENSE DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THEIR OWN CLIENT
Diehl’s attorneys admitted in court that they only learned about the hearing because they saw it on the news. Let that sink in.
Her lawyers didn’t prepare for this hearing — because they didn’t even know it was happening.
When Diehl entered the courtroom, she sat directly behind Mary’s grandmother, who was the one that told her who her lawyer was.
> “Adding it won’t do you any good,” Alderman told her.
“Joke’s on me,” she later said, “because apparently, being unprepared is exactly what works in Mecklenburg County courtrooms.”
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THE STATE WAS NO BETTER
After the hearing began, Assistant District Attorney Bill Bunting, head of homicide, stepped in — and seemed to be scrambling to do damage control while clearly unprepared.
He didn’t have the information the judge requested.
The files presented were incomplete, the paperwork contradictory, and the explanations nonexistent.
This wasn’t a courtroom — it was a picture of a justice system in disarray.
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MARSY’S LAW RIGHTS WERE DENIED
As Mary’s grandmother and a recognized victim under Marsy’s Law, Mia Alderman invoked her right to speak in court — to be heard before decisions impacting the defendant’s bond were made. That right was denied four separate times.
Twice, Assistant District Attorney Bill Bunting refused to allow her to speak.
Twice more, when she stood and directly addressed Judge Strickland, she was denied again.
Four times, the system silenced the one voice that Marsy’s Law was designed to protect — the victim’s. Four times, they ignored the law they are sworn to uphold.
While Mary’s mother was allowed to speak, delivering a heartbreaking and impassioned plea to the court — begging the judge to hold Diehl accountable for her continued violations of court orders and to deliver justice for Mary — her gut-wrenching request fell on deaf ears as the judge moved forward with his decision.
This isn’t just negligence. It’s a direct violation of a constitutional right — and it proves that even laws meant to protect victims are meaningless in a courtroom where no one is paying attention.
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THE MONITORING COMPANY WALKED AWAY
The final blow came when the private ankle-monitoring company — the one Diehl herself was allowed to hire — refused to keep her as a client.
A representative from that company came to court to remove her ankle monitor because they were no longer willing to supervise her.
But here’s the part that no one seems to care about:
The woman who testified wasn’t even the person who had been monitoring Diehl. She didn’t have the answers.
Mary’s grandmother, Mia Alderman, did — because she is the one who had been following up with the monitoring company herself.
Every single question the judge asked that day, Alderman had the documented answers to.
And every single one of them went unanswered in open court.
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A SYSTEM THAT CANNOT PROTECT ITSELF — LET ALONE THE PUBLIC
This hearing proved what Mary’s family has been saying for years:
The Mecklenburg County justice system is broken beyond recognition.
Judges are left blind.
Prosecutors are left scrambling.
Defense attorneys are learning from the evening news.
And the families of victims — people like Mary’s family — are the only ones in the room who actually know what’s going on.
Yet despite all this, the outcome was the same as always:
America Ray Diehl walked out with fewer restrictions than before.
Her ankle monitor removed. Her violations excused. Her freedom intact.
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MARY DESERVED BETTER
Mary Collins was a trusting young woman with cognitive disabilities. She believed she was among friends.
Instead, she was betrayed, bludgeoned, tortured, and murdered.
Now, her family is forced to sit in courtrooms where no one is prepared, no one is accountable, and no one is protecting the public.
> “We’re watching this system collapse in real time,” said Mia Alderman, Mary’s grandmother and co-founder of Mary’s Voice.
“If judges can’t get the information they need to make informed decisions, if prosecutors can’t answer basic questions, and if the defense is learning about hearings from the news — then justice isn’t delayed, it’s dead.”
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NO MORE GIFTS FOR MURDERERS
This case is not about pretrial supervision — it’s about the failure of justice itself.
Every time Diehl violates a court order, she gets another gift from the same court system that should be protecting us.
Every judge that touches this case changes the last judge’s order to fit her needs.
Every violation is excused.
Every safeguard stripped away.
This is not compassion — it’s corruption of purpose.
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MARY’S VOICE WILL NOT BE SILENT
We, as Mary’s Voice, are requesting an immediate investigation into how this hearing was handled — from the incomplete files to the violation of victims’ rights.
We are calling on the North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission and state lawmakers to review how these bond hearings are conducted and ensure that Marsy’s Law protections are not just written words, but enforced rights.
Mary’s life mattered.
The safety of this community matters.
And we as Mary’s Voice will not stop until this system remembers that.
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Contact:
📧 justiceformarysc@gmail.com
🌐 www.marysvoice.com
#JusticeForMary #MarysVoice #NoMoreGifts #AccountabilityNow
Mary's Voice Commends Governor Stein For Signing Iryna's Law
Urges Continued Reform
Statement On The Passing Of Iryna's Law
North Carolina
Mary’s Voice commends the Governor for signing Iryna’s Law but urges lawmakers to include accessory to murder in the magistrate bill — because murder is the most serious crime there is.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mary’s Voice
Website: www.marysvoice.com
Email: justiceformarysc@gmail.com
Social Media: @MarysVoice
Date: October 6, 2025
Mary’s Voice Responds to Governor Stein’s Signing of Iryna’s Law
Calls for Inclusion of Accessory to Murder in the Magistrate Bill and Continued Reform to Protect Victims
Charlotte, N.C. — October 6, 2025 — Mary’s Voice, the advocacy organization founded in memory of Mary Santina Collins, commends Governor Josh Stein for signing Iryna’s Law, marking a long-overdue step toward justice reform in North Carolina. However, the organization stresses that much more must be done to ensure the law has real strength and meaning for victims and their families.
“We do not support any bond release for murderers, including accessories to murder,” said Mia Alderman, founder of Mary’s Voice and grandmother of Mary Collins. “Murder is the most serious and irreversible crime there is. Anyone charged with taking a life—or helping someone else take one—should not walk free before trial. Justice demands accountability, not convenience.”
While Iryna’s Law limits cashless bail for violent and repeat offenders, Mary’s Voice emphasizes that all bonds for violent criminals should be strengthened in practice. Too many offenders were being released on unsecured or verbal bonds, allowing dangerous individuals to return to the streets. But offenders charged with murder or murder related crimes should have no bond regardless of money paid. The organization supports this reform as a necessary starting point but calls for continued action to ensure it is enforced consistently.
The group also points to the recently passed Magistrate Bill, which prevents magistrates from setting bonds for violent criminals, requiring those cases to go before a judge instead. Mary’s Voice supports this change but urges lawmakers to correct a major omission: the bill does not include accessory to murder.
“A person who helps commit murder is not a bystander—they are a participant in the most serious crime under our laws,” Alderman said. “Leaving accessory to murder out of this bill is unacceptable. That must change.”
The organization also notes the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s long-standing policy—upheld by both former Chief Kerr Putney and current Chief Johnny Jennings—refusing to place ankle monitors on individuals charged with murder-related offenses. CMPD maintains that those accused of murder belong in custody, not under electronic supervision in the community. Yet offenders charged with first degree murder and murder related charges are routinely released on bond. Without being monitored by an ankle monitor or any other method. Yet lesser offences are monitored by CMPD via ankle monitoring. James Salerno, one of the people charged with the first degree murder of Mary Collins, was released without monitoring. This policy also created a loophole that allowed America Diehl to go free on bond while ignoring the judges' non monetary conditions. This is outrageous.
Mary’s Voice calls Iryna’s Law a good beginning and a necessary starting point, but insists that its success depends on enforcement, oversight, and further legislative action.
To ensure meaningful reform, Mary’s Voice urges:
Expanding the Magistrate Bill to include accessory to murder and all homicide-related charges.
Ensuring violent offenders are not released due to weak or inconsistent application of bail rules.
Maintaining the requirement that only a judge, not a magistrate, can set bonds for violent crimes.
Guaranteeing public transparency on how the new and existing laws are implemented.
Closing "loopholes" like the situation with CMPD not monitoring murder related individuals out on bond.
Continuing to prioritize victims and their families in all justice reform efforts.
“This law is progress, but progress alone is not enough,” Alderman said. “If Iryna’s Law is going to carry her name and honor her life, it must have real teeth. Our work will not stop until it truly protects every family in North Carolina.”
Justice Delayed in Charlotte: Mary Collins Family Speaks Out
Re: Press conference in Charlotte NC on the horrific light rail stabbing of Iryna Zaruska
In light of the recent tragedy on Charlotte’s light rail system and the urgent conversations it has sparked about public safety and justice reform, I want to draw your attention to another devastating case in Charlotte that remains unresolved over five years later.
My granddaughter, Mary Santina Collins, a 20-year-old with a cognitive disability, was stabbed over 133 times and murdered in 2020. Yet despite the brutality of the crime, two of her accused killers have still not faced trial, and one of them is currently out on bond.
Our family sees heartbreaking parallels between Mary’s case and the recent killing of Iryna Zarutska:
Both were young women in their early 20s.
Both were stabbed to death in Charlotte.
Both highlight serious failures in the justice system.
We are releasing the following statement to call attention to these failures and to urge Charlotte’s leaders and courts to act. We believe now is the moment to bring overdue attention to Mary’s case, as the city reckons with systemic justice issues that continue to cost young women their lives.
I would be grateful if you could review the statement and consider covering Mary’s story alongside your coverage of the light rail tragedy.
Thank you for your time and commitment to shining a light on justice in Charlotte.
Sincerely,
Mia Alderman
“Mary’s Voice”
justiceformarysc@gmail.com
(Press Release – Charlotte Justice System Failed Two Young Women Charlotte’s Daughter's)
Mary’s Voice — Statement to the Media(In Response to Today’s Press Conferences in Charlotte)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: September 10, 2025
Issued by: Mary’s Voice – Advocacy for Justice for Mary Santina Collins and justice System Reform
Today’s press conferences mark a crucial moment for Charlotte — a city shaken by tragedy, yet poised for transformation. As Charlotte confronts the murder of Iryna Zarutska, one of Charlotte;s daughters, and pledges reforms, we — Mary’s Voice — stand with the community in grief and in hope. But hope means nothing without justice.
We Stand United with Iryna’s Family
We mourn alongside Iryna’s loved ones. Her death on light rail provoked public outrage, swift media attention, and political action — rightly so. As a newly arrived refugee, she was vulnerable, and her life was taken. That reality demands systemic change, and we support every measure introduced today that aims to protect Charlotte’s public and transit safety.
We Ask: What About Mary?
But we must also ask: what about Mary? Also Charlotte's daughter. Five years ago, Mary Santina Collins, a young woman with a cognitive disability, was stabbed over 133 times, then concealed in a mattress. Her death was horrific. Yet, over half a decade later, only one of the four accused has been given a plea deal, sentenced; two await trial, one still out on bond.
Mary’s case did not receive the urgency or visibility it deserved. While the city was immobilized by the pandemic, her family’s grief was met with silence and delays — a failure we cannot allow to repeat.
Now Is the Moment for Equitable Justice For All Victims
Leadership can no longer let Mary’s case sit in the shadows. Now, while the light is on Charlotte’s justice system, we must act:
Ensure expedited trials for all violent offenders — irrespective of public visibility.
Reevaluate bond policies, especially in cases involving the most vulnerable.
Recognize cognitively impaired individuals as vulnerable and extend protections accordingly.
Ensure transparency in trial scheduling and judicial actions, so families aren’t left in limbo.
A Call to Charlotte’s Leaders
We call upon our DA, courts, city council, and state legislature: Let this moment be more than reactive speech. Let it be the point at which all victims — Mary, Iryna, and those yet unknown — receive equal protection under law.
Mary’s Voice Will Keep Speaking
We will continue to stand publicly — at vigils, in court proceedings, in media, and alongside other advocates — until justice is served for Mary Santina Collins.
Because Mary mattered. Iryna mattered. And every victim deserves the same urgency and justice. Everyone deserves to be safe in Charlotte without danger because violent people are out on bond.
CONTACT:
Mary’s Voice | Mia Alderman
Email: justiceformarysc@gmail.com
Website: Marysvoice.com | Social: # MarysVoice
# MaryCollins #CharlottesDaughters
Annual Online Vigil For Mary Collins-Until There's Justice
Four Years Without Mary
Release Date: February 20, 2024
Online Vigil for Mary Collins: A Call for Justice and Disability Rights
Four years ago, Mary Collins, a 20-year-old woman with a cognitive disability, was lured to an apartment in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was brutally tortured and stabbed 133 times by four people who claimed to be her friends. Her body was then stuffed inside a mattress and covered with plastic wrap, where it remained for a week until the police discovered it on April 4, 2020.
Mary’s murder shocked and outraged the community, especially the disability community, who saw it as a horrific example of the violence and discrimination that people with disabilities face every day. Mary’s family and advocates have been fighting for justice ever since, demanding that the perpetrators be held accountable for their heinous crimes and that the system recognize that disability rights are human rights.
To honor Mary’s memory and to raise awareness of the issues that affect people with disabilities, an online vigil will be held from March 28 to April 4, 2024, marking the anniversary of Mary’s abduction and death.
The vigil will feature testimonies from Mary’s family and friends, as well as from various disability rights organizations and movements.
The focus of the vigil is always Mary, the strongest and most heartfelt posts come from people who want to be a voice for Mary. Not only in Charlotte North Carolina but from around the world.
The vigil will also include a petition to urge the authorities to expedite the trial of the remaining suspects and to ensure that they receive the maximum penalty for their actions.
The online vigil is open to anyone who wants to join and show their support for Mary and her family, as well as for the disability community as a whole.
The vigil is meant to illustrate how long Mary suffered at the hands of her killers and how long her family has been waiting for justice. It is also meant to send a message that people with disabilities deserve respect, dignity, and protection from violence and abuse.
The online vigil will be hosted online by Mary's Voice various social media sites, where more information and updates can be found.
Mary's Voice website also provides resources and links for people who want to learn more about disability rights and how to get involved in being a voice for justice.
The organizers of the vigil hope that by sharing Mary’s story and raising awareness of the challenges that people with disabilities face, they can prevent such tragedies from happening again and create a more inclusive and compassionate society for everyone.
