HUNTERSVILLE – The man charged with the murder of Salisbury woman Libby Kerns had his bond doubled by the judge after he pleaded not guilty in court on Thursday, Sept. 20.

Both Libby’s son, Sampson Kerns, and aunt, Patty Shuffler were in the court and provided testimony against the accused, Christopher Nailor, and listened to the prosecutors give grisly details about the murder.

Sampson said that the most emotional moment for him was not hearing Nailor plead not guilty or even having the judge double Nailor’s bond, but instead having to get up on the stand and give his impact statement while facing the man accused of killing his mother. Shuffler echoed Sampson’s emotions, adding that she watched Nailor during the statements and testimonies to see if he would display any emotion during the trial.

“I would have been more upset if there had been a plea deal and he didn’t have to serve a life sentence. I have no illusions that he will win his case,” said Sampson.

Both Sampson and Shuffler spoke about the Libby Kerns that they know as a mother and as a niece, someone that had her struggles in life but was always loving towards family.

“She was a very tough woman, she was a strong lady and when my dad was still here, she was a stay-at-home mother who cared for me. She had her demons, but she loved her family, she loved me, her family was her whole world,” said Sampson.

Despite the demons that she struggled with near the end, they both said that Libby was a mother who made certain that Sampson was loved and cared for throughout his childhood.

“She loved Sampson, he was her pride and joy. She always took him places, she was always doing things for him, she loved him,” said Shuffler.

Shuffler said that the difficult times in Libby’s life stemmed from the loss of her father at a young age. Libby’s father died when she was 12 after he caught Hepatitis from food he ordered at a restaurant. She lost her sister later to a drug overdose, which Shuffler said made Libby’s turn towards drugs even harder to understand.

“It was a little harder for her to come to family events because she didn’t feel like it was fair that everyone else had their families, and she didn’t have her’s. She had her own family after Sampson, and it helped her,” said Shuffler.

According to the prosecution, Nailor picked Libby up for sex and took her to his trailer in Huntersville, where he tortured her and locked her in the bathroom. When she tried to fight back, prosecutors say Nailor shot her before burying her in a shallow grave in the backyard.

“She didn’t deserve to die that way. Yes, she made some mistakes, but this man was a beast. He buried her and went about his daily routine for six more months. To leave her in the backyard for bugs to eat at her, that’s what hurts me the most,” said Shuffler.

Sampson said despite the gruesome details he heard in the court room and the fact that he viewed the man as a “sociopath,” he was willing to forgive Nailor.

“I forgive him, it was hard to forgive him but I’m praying for him. I hope he spends the rest of his life in jail, but I don’t want him to spend his eternity in hell,” said Sampson.