Who Killed Faith Hedgepeth? Charges And Investigation

In September 2021, Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was charged with the first-degree murder of Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old University of North Carolina student, nine years after her death. Hedgepeth was found beaten and raped in her off-campus apartment in 2012. Salguero-Olivares was identified as a suspect through DNA samples after being arrested for drunk driving the month before.

Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was charged with first-degree murder

On September 7, 2012, 19-year-old Faith Hedgepeth, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was found dead in her off-campus apartment. She had been beaten over the head with a blunt instrument, which was later identified as an empty liquor bottle. There was also evidence of semen and male DNA at the crime scene.

Nine years later, on September 16, 2021, Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Salguero-Olivares, who was 28 at the time of his arrest, was identified as a suspect through DNA samples after being arrested for drunk driving the previous month. According to court documents released in January 2022, the DNA found at the scene and a palm print on the murder weapon matched Salguero-Olivares.

Salguero-Olivares was not initially considered a suspect in Hedgepeth's murder. He was booked into Durham County Jail without bond and made his first virtual court appearance on Friday, September 17, 2021. He was appointed a public defender and was assigned a probable cause hearing on October 7.

Hedgepeth's family expressed relief at the arrest and hoped for justice for their daughter. Her mother, Connie Hedgepeth, said, "When I got the news this morning, I didn't do anything but cry and thank God and praise God... When I cried, it was tears of joy, tears of relief that someone had been arrested."

The investigation into Hedgepeth's murder is ongoing, and law enforcement officials have not yet provided a motive for the crime. Chief of Police Chris Blue stated, "This story will take time to completely unfold."

Salguero-Olivares' DNA matched semen samples collected at the crime scene

On 16 September 2021, 28-year-old Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of 19-year-old Faith Hedgepeth. Hedgepeth was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and was found dead in her off-campus apartment on 7 September 2012.

In addition to the DNA match, Salguero-Olivares' fingerprints and palm prints were also found on a wine bottle at the crime scene. Investigators turned to ancestry technology to identify individuals associated with the DNA found at the scene and were able to identify distant family members. This information, along with arrest records, was used to identify Salguero-Olivares.

Salguero-Olivares' appearance also matched the DNA profile sketch created by Parabon NanoLabs that police released in 2016. He is currently being held in the Durham County Detention Center without bond.

Salguero-Olivares was not initially a suspect

The breakthrough in the case came when Salguero-Olivares was arrested for a drunken-driving charge in Wake County in August 2021. His DNA was matched to the crime scene, and he was subsequently arrested for the murder of Hedgepeth.

Despite not being a suspect initially, Salguero-Olivares' name had come up during the investigation. A private investigator who worked on the case said that Salguero-Olivares had been at a party at Hedgepeth's apartment complex but that he didn't stand out.

The police have not revealed how Salguero-Olivares knew Hedgepeth or provided a motive for the murder. However, they have said that the suspect matched a composite description made from the DNA found at the scene.

The judicial process in the case is expected to be lengthy, and Salguero-Olivares remains in custody without bond.

Salguero-Olivares' mother claimed her son was innocent

Salguero-Olivares' mother, who was not named in the sources, claimed her son was innocent. She told WRAL News that her son did not attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did not have friends there. She said: "My son is not a murderer. I believe in my son. I believe it. He said he don't know the girl."

A family friend of Salguero-Olivares also told WRAL that the violent act did not fit the person she knew him to be, noting principles he learned from his parents and grandparents.

Salguero-Olivares was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Faith Hedgepeth, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Hedgepeth was found dead in her off-campus apartment on September 7, 2012. She had been beaten over the head with a blunt instrument, later found to be an empty liquor bottle, and evidence of semen and male DNA was present at the crime scene.

In September 2021, almost nine years after Hedgepeth's death, Salguero-Olivares was identified as a suspect through DNA samples after he was arrested on a drunken-driving charge in Wake County the previous month. According to court documents released in January 2022, the DNA found at the scene and the palm print on the murder weapon matched Salguero-Olivares.

At the time of the murder in 2012, several people were questioned and police investigated multiple men as possible suspects. One of them was the ex-boyfriend of Hedgepeth's roommate, who was frustrated with the influence Hedgepeth reportedly had over her friend. According to a warrant, the ex-boyfriend told Hedgepeth that he was going to kill her if his girlfriend didn't get back together with him. However, his DNA did not match the sample from the apartment, and he was excluded as a suspect.

Salguero-Olivares was 19 at the time of the murder

On September 7, 2012, 19-year-old Faith Hedgepeth was found murdered in her off-campus apartment. She was a third-year undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her body was found by her roommate, who had left their shared apartment at 4:27 am and returned at around 11 am with a friend. Hedgepeth's body was found wrapped in a quilt, partially nude, and with large amounts of blood. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head, likely from an empty liquor bottle found at the scene. There was also evidence of semen and male DNA.

Almost nine years later, on September 16, 2021, 28-year-old Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Salguero-Olivares was 19 at the time of the murder. His DNA, obtained following a drunken-driving arrest a month earlier, matched semen samples collected at the crime scene. His physical appearance also matched the DNA profile sketch created by Parabon NanoLabs and released by the police in 2016.

Salguero-Olivares was not initially considered a suspect. He was not a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and did not have many friends there, according to his mother. However, a private investigator who once worked on the case stated that Salguero-Olivares' name had come up and that he had been at a party at Hedgepeth's apartment complex.

The investigation and judicial process are still ongoing, and authorities have not yet provided a motive for the murder. Hedgepeth's family has expressed relief at the arrest, with her mother stating, "I didn't do anything but cry and thank God and praise God... When I cried, it was tears of joy, tears of relief that someone had been arrested."

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