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Faith Hedgepeth Murder
Faith Hedgepeth was a UNC sophomore when she was killed on Sept. 7, 2012. Her murder was unsolved until Sept. 16, 2021, when Chapel Hill police made an arrest in her case. The murder trial begins Sept. 28, 2026. Here’s ongoing coverage about Hedgepeth and the case.
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DURHAM
Content warning: This story contains some content that may be upsetting to some readers.
Jurors in the Faith Hedgepeth murder trial are being shown evidence Friday, Oct. 9, collected from the apartment where the 19-year-old UNC-Chapel Hill student was found dead 14 years ago. They have also been shown autopsy photos.
The testimony follows a day in which jurors viewed graphic, crime-scene photos and video of Hedgepeth’s apartment, including the bed, blood-soaked pillows and bedding in the bedroom where she was killed.
In 2021, investigators used genetic genealogy to link DNA found on and near Hedgepeth to Miguel Salguero Olivares, a man with no prior criminal convictions and no previously known connection to her. He has pleaded not guilty to murder, rape and burglary.
The News & Observer is in the Durham County courtroom providing live updates during the day. Follow through the day for the latest from the trial.
4:30 p.m.: Court is in recess until 9:30 a.m. Monday morning
4:15 p.m.: Medical examiner questioned about evidence of genital injuries
During cross-examination, defense attorney James Rainsford asked Dr. Lauren Scott, who performed Hedgepeth’s autopsy, whether she found any injuries or bruising to Hedgepeth’s external or internal genitalia. Scott said she did not.
3:45 p.m.: Medical examiner confirms that glass bottle could have been weapon
Scott confirmed that Hedgepeth’s injuries could have been caused by a glass run bottle. Prosecutors contend that Salguero Olivares used a Bacardi rum bottle to bludgeon Hedgepeth to death.
3:30 p.m.: Autopsy photos left jurors in tears
Several jurors, at least three or four, were crying after viewing 17 autopsy photos of Hedgepeth’s injuries., so Judge Keith O. Gregory thought it was prudent to take the 15-minute afternoon break early, Gregory said.
3:00 p.m.: Autopsy photos shared with the jury
Scott testified that Hedgepeth had multiple lacerations on her forehead, scalp and face. She also had bruising on her face, the back of her right hand and arm, along with scrapes and bruises on her knees.
During Scott’s testimony, prosecutors showed jurors autopsy photos documenting Hedgepeth’s injuries. One photo showed bruising around her eyes, which Scott said was likely caused by skull fractures and blood pooling around her eyes. Friends of Hedgepeth who were in the courtroom wiped tears as they closed or diverted their eyes.
2:40 p.m.: Chapel Hill forensic evidence specialist takes the stand.
Sheleathea Quick, a now retired Chapel Hill forensic evidence specialist, testified that she conducted a presumptive test to determine whether brown stains on the polka-dot tube top worn by Hedgepeth’s roommate, Karena Rosario, the morning of the killing were blood. The test was negative.
1 p.m.: Lunch break
Testimony resumes at 2:30 p.m.
12:45 p.m.: Defense attorney questions evidence tech about what she didn’t test
Defense attorney James Rainsford asked Chapel Hill evidence technician Tamika Price about the areas that police didn’t search or test.
The areas they didn’t search included the laundry room and a storage room. The areas they didn’t test for blood included the bedroom and apartment doorknobs.
Through questioning Price, Rainsford pointed out that instead of a purple phone found in the bed being secured and tested, it was taken to an investigator at the investigator’s request. After the investigator handled the phone, it limited DNA testing of the phone.
Noon: Evidence tech outlines missing evidence
Price testified that three days after Hedgepeth’s killing, she and another evidence technician returned to the apartment at their supervisor’s request to collect additional evidence from the bathroom, including spots of blood around the sink and a red stain on the door frame. The women’s bathroom didn’t have a door, after Hedgepeth’s roommate’s boyfriend had ripped it off months before when he lived with the roommate there.
Price said they conducted a presumptive test on the red drip-like stain near the bottom of the door frame. The test turned pink, indicating the possible presence of blood, Price said.
The next step would have been to collect a sample, package it and send it for testing. But when an investigator later asked for the sample, Price said she couldn’t find it. Price, who was being trained by the other technician, said the step to collect the sample “was a step that was missed.”
During pretrial hearings, defense attorneys pointed out that the stain was near where Hedgepeth’s roommate, Karena Rosario, said she sat in the bathroom between 3:04 a.m. and about 4:25 a.m., when Jordan McCrary picked her up the morning Hedgepeth was killed.
Prosecutors contend Salguero Olivares broke into the apartment after Rosario left. But defense attorneys have pointed to blood evidence that they say raises questions about whether Rosario was still in the apartment when Hedgepeth was killed.
Rainsford questioned Price about the missing evidence and why she hadn’t documented it in her report. Price acknowledged that she now knows she should have included it, but said she was still in training at the time and had no experience writing reports.
9:30 a.m.: Forensic evidence tech continues testimony about collecting evidence in bedroom
Price was one of two Chapel Hill police employees who collected evidence and photographed Hedgepeth and the bedroom where she was found. During Price’s testimony, Assistant District Attorney Brooks Stone showed jurors photos of Hedgepeth’s body.
The photos showed Hedgepeth hanging off the left side of a queen-size bed in a cluttered room filled with clothes and furniture. Her hair appeared wet, and she was wearing only a black T-shirt that had been pulled up to her chest. Hedgepeth had black eyes, and her face was streaked with dried blood.
Price said that after investigators moved the comforter covering part of Hedgepeth’s body, they found a bloodied glass Bacardi rum bottle that prosecutors say was used to bludgeon her. Price moved from the witness stand, and wearing gloves, pulled the bottle out of the evidence bag and held it up while walking slowly in front of the jury.
During her testimony, Price also pointed out key evidence items that were found in the room including a blue wine bottle at the end of the bed, a used panty liner on a futon, boxer shorts intertwined with underwear, and a white fast food bag found in the middle of the bed with a handwritten note.
“I am not stupid B – – – – Jealous,” the note said. Price also showed those pieces of evidence to the jury.
Faith Hedgepeth’s Sept. 7, 2012 killing and the case against Salguero Olivares
Hedgepeth was found beaten to death in her apartment near the Durham-Chapel Hill border on Sept. 7, 2012. Beneath a blood-covered comforter, police found a Bacardi Peach Rum bottle that authorities say was used to bludgeon her.
For nine years, investigators searched for who killed Hedgepeth. In September 2021, they arrested Miguel Salguero Olivares.
Prosecutors say DNA from a sexual assault kit, the rum bottle and other items in the apartment links him to the crime.
Defense attorneys have questioned the reliability of some DNA evidence, pointing to mixed samples and incomplete genetic profiles. They have also raised concerns about possible contamination, untested evidence and testimony from a witness who saw blood on Hedgepeth’s roommate’s finger that morning.
If convicted of first-degree murder, Salguero Olivares will receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.
Faith Hedgepeth murder trial coverage from Thursday, Oct. 8
Faith Hedgepeth murder: Witness recalls blood on roommate’s finger
Faith Hedgepeth murder trial live updates, Thursday, Oct. 8: Roommate questioned, 911 call played
This story was originally published October 9, 2026 at 8:42 AM.
The News & Observer
Virginia Bridges covers what is and isn’t working in North Carolina’s criminal justice system for The News & Observer’s and The Charlotte Observer’s investigation team. She has worked for newspapers for more than 20 years. The N.C. State Bar Association awarded her the Media & Law Award for Best Series in 2018, 2020 and 2025.
Source: www.newsobserver.com
