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DNA In Gaston Co. Man's Murder Conviction To Get Updated Test

Sarah Delia

In May of 2008, a UNCC student was found dead in Mount Holly on the banks of the Catawba River. Twenty-year-old Ira Yarmolenko was found lying beside her car with three bindings around her neck. Mark Carver was convicted of her murder. Although he wasn't present at the Gaston County Courthouse Thursday, his lawyers were there to argue his case. 

The two Gaston County men who were fishing nearby where Ira Yarmolenko's body was found, Mark Carver and Neal Cassada, were charged with murder.

Cassada died of a heart attack before his trial. But Carver was convicted of murder based on trace amounts of DNA found on the victim’s car.

Carver has maintained his innocence and the North Carolina Center On Actual Innocence has taken up his case to get his conviction over turned. Last year, the Charlotte Observer put a spotlight on the story in a six-part series that explores and questions Carver’s conviction.

Thursday, Carver’s defense team was in court to ask for DNA to be retested and to request additional samples. WFAE’s Sarah Delia was in the courtroom and discussed Thursday's findings with Mark Rumsey.

Sarah Delia is a Senior Producer for Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. Sarah joined the WFAE news team in 2014. An Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, Sarah has lived and told stories from Maine, New York, Indiana, Alabama, Virginia and North Carolina. Sarah received her B.A. in English and Art history from James Madison University, where she began her broadcast career at college radio station WXJM. Sarah has interned and worked at NPR in Washington DC, interned and freelanced for WNYC, and attended the Salt Institute for Radio Documentary Studies.