Jury selection is underway in the trial of Miguel Salguero-Olivares, the man charged with killing UNC student Faith Hedgepeth.
Hedgepeth was found dead in her off-campus apartment in September of 2012.
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Salguero-Olivares was arrested and charged with her death in 2021.
WRAL has followed the twists and turns over the course of the nine year investigation and the five years since Salguero-Olivares’ arrest.
Jury Selection Day 1
Court began at 10:15 Monday morning with the final remaining pre-trial motions.
Those included discussion of an order regarding the exclusion of investigative genetic genealogy, the information the state has provided on expert witnesses, and proposed questions for jurors during individual voir dire.
Attorneys for both the prosecution and defense questioned potential jurors one-by-one about media coverage of the case, asking what they’d seen, if they trusted what they’d read, and if they understood media reports were not facts in a case.
Given the high-profile nature and lengthy investigation of the case, it is likely jury selection could take several days.
Who was Faith Hedgepeth?
Fourteen years after the death of UNC student Faith Hedgepeth, the trial of the man charged with killing her is underway.
Hedgepeth was a biology major at UNC Chapel Hill, found dead in her apartment in 2012.
Her murder shook UNC's campus and the Chapel Hill community.
WRAL spoke with Brandy Brooks from the American Indian Center at UNC in 2012 after Hedgepeth’s death.
“We hope the person who committed this crime is found, and we hope there’s some justice for Faith,” Brooks said. “To know that someone harmed her was in and of itself unspeakable.”
The loss of Hedgepeth also left a hole in the heart of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe.
In the days and months after her death, WRAL spoke with Hedgepeth’s loved ones in Warren County as well.
“She was the sweetest person in the world,” Hedgepeth’s friend Deidra Francis said.
“Faith was involved in her tribal culture,” Tribal Chief Ronald Richardson told WRAL. “She danced the powwow.”
Faith's father, Roland Hedgepeth, has been one of the loudest voices pushing for justice over the years.
“I want to thank everyone for their support and love,” he told WRAL in 2012. “I’m overwhelmed by it.”
He continued to hold out hope for months and years, when the investigation stalled.
WRAL will have full coverage of the Faith Hedgepeth case on TV and on our website. You can watch our latest video breaking down the case on our Youtube channel here.