The victim
Faith Hedgepeth was a 19-year-old UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore. She was a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribal community, active in the Carolina Indian Circle, and studying biology in hopes of becoming a pediatrician. Police found her body in her Chapel Hill apartment on Sept. 7, 2012, and her death was attributed to blunt force trauma to the head. Her roommate and another friend found her partially nude and beaten to death in her bedroom. Darkmatter: Faith Hedgepeth Attended UNC in Chapel Hill When She Was Bludgeoned To Death And A Mysterious Note Left Behind. Updated 09/23/2023
Why it took 14 years
Police didn't initially name any suspects and kept details of the death sealed under court orders for years. That secrecy fed a lot of speculation, much of it aimed at the roommate, Karena Rosario, who found the body but had left the apartment in the early morning hours.
The break came in 2021, when authorities said DNA from the crime scene matched a sample taken from a man facing a DWI charge. Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was arrested on Sept. 16, 2021, at age 28.
The charges
He is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense and first-degree burglary. The state is not seeking the death penalty, but a conviction could mean life in prison. He pleaded not guilty in August 2026.
The state's theory
Prosecutors say DNA evidence links him to the killing, and they plan to introduce DNA and fingerprint evidence. In opening, they said he was a stranger to Hedgepeth but had extended family living in the same apartment complex in 2012. Authorities haven't said publicly whether they believe he targeted her or happened upon her unlocked door. He has said he didn't know her.
Faith Hedgepeth murder trial: Why opening statements count, what lawyers can say.
The defense's position
The defense argues there isn't enough evidence to prove the state's case. Their main points are that only trace amounts of DNA point to him and that evidence was lost or mishandled. The key example is a bathroom swab that was never tested and later couldn't be found. They also say Rosario has given inconsistent statements to investigators over the years.
Pretrial rulings that shape the trial
Evidence tied to investigative genetic genealogy was excluded, and testimony about the data behind inconclusive DNA results was barred.
Prosecutors can argue that a pen found at the scene was used to write the message on the white takeout bag.
Jurors won't hear written statement analysis involving Rosario.
The judge ruled the defense can't accuse anyone else of committing the crime.
He appears before jurors in civilian clothes without visible handcuffs, and cameras are allowed during witness testimony.
1. Finishing jury selection
Court began at 9:45 a.m. with selection of the fourth and final alternate juror, approved by both sides.
Judge Keith Gregory then gave the jury an orientation before openings.
The 12-member panel is five Black women, four white women, two Black men and one white man.
2. State's opening (ADA Angela Garcia-Lamarca)
She said the evidence will show Salguero Olivares killed Hedgepeth with an empty Bacardi bottle from the apartment and then raped her.
The case centers on DNA from the scene, matched to him after his 2021 drunk-driving arrest. She said it is the only complete DNA profile ever developed from the scene's evidence.
She listed DNA on the bottle, her sleepwear and the takeout bag with the written message, and a palm print and thumb print on a second bottle.
She said the two were strangers, but that his extended family lived in the same apartment complex and held a barbecue the night of Sept. 6 that ran into the early morning of Sept. 7.
She also addressed the "noise" around the case, meaning the years of speculation and conspiracy theories.
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3. Defense opening (James Rainsford)
He took aim at the state's "noise" framing and asked jurors whether the gaps in its evidence were noise or something worth weighing.
He pointed to Rosario's behavior after the death without directly accusing her, including a statement from Jordan McCrary, who picked her up around 4 a.m., that she asked why there would be blood on her hands.
He argued only trace amounts of DNA point to his client, and that key evidence was mishandled or never collected.
His main example was a possible blood swab from the bathroom that was never tested, and later couldn't be located when the defense asked for testing.
Pretrial rulings bar the defense from accusing anyone else of the crime, so his approach stays at "reasonable doubt" rather than naming an alternate suspect.
4. First witnesses
Alexis Evans, Hedgepeth's niece, testified first to give background on Faith.
Karena Rosario, the roommate who found the body, recounted the night, the discovery the next morning and the long-term effect on her life.
Prosecutors pressed her on her cooperation with law enforcement. She said she always cooperated and had nothing to hide.
5. Where it ended
Court adjourned with Rosario still on the stand. The defense's cross-examination was set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday.
