Man Accused of 2012 Killing of UNC Student Faces Jury

A man accused of beating University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student Faith Hedgepeth to death in 2012 is now on trial, and prosecutors say his DNA ties him to the crime.

Hedgepeth was a 19-year-old sophomore when she was found dead in her off-campus apartment in Chapel Hill in September 2012. Prosecutors say she and her roommate had been at a club that night, and Hedgepeth, the designated driver, brought them both home around 2 a.m. The roommate, who was sick, left with a friend around 4 a.m. and returned hours later to find Hedgepeth dead. Prosecutors say Hedgepeth was on track to become the first in her family to graduate from college.

The case went nearly a decade without an arrest. In 2021, Miguel Salguero Olivares was taken into custody after a traffic stop, and authorities say a DNA sample matched a profile from the crime scene. Police say he had no known connection to Hedgepeth. He is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense and first-degree burglary, and pleaded not guilty in November 2024.

Opening statements began Oct. 7 in Durham. Assistant District Attorney Angela Garcia-Lamarca told jurors the defendant's DNA was found on a blood-covered rum bottle prosecutors call the murder weapon, and on a note written on a fast-food bag left at the scene. The note read "I'm not stupid," followed by an expletive and the word "jealous." "The evidence in this case is louder than the noise around it," Garcia-Lamarca said.

Defense attorney James Rainsford told jurors prosecutors had left out key details and urged them to ask where the rest of the evidence was. He pointed to a friend who told police he saw what looked like blood on the roommate's hands, a downstairs neighbor who reported loud thumps between 3 and 4 a.m., and evidence tied to apparent blood in the bathroom that police later lost. He also argued that finding DNA does not, on its own, connect his client to the crime.

Jurors have since heard from the roommate, Karena Rosario, the first officer at the scene, and a forensic evidence technician. A medical examiner testified that evidence points to blunt force trauma to the head as the cause of death.

The trial is expected to last three to six weeks.