Sherry Welch never takes off the necklace she wears to honor her late daughter, Erica.

“She was special to me,” Welch said. “She was loving, strong, everything … I loved her.”

Welch went to a hearing in Gaston County Superior Court on Tuesday morning to see the man accused of shooting and killing her daughter.

David Pace, appeared before a judge. The 52-year-old man is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, assault by pointing a gun and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Pace is alleged to have killed Welch, who was 32, on March 6, 2024 inside a mobile home on Chrisco Lane , according to police.

During the hearing, Pace’s then-lawyer, Aaron Lee, asked Judge Karen Eady-Williams to allow him to step down from the case due to a “breakdown in communication,” as well

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