A judge on Monday is expected to rule on more than a dozen motions in the murder trial of a man accused of killing UNC student Faith Hedgepeth more than a decade ago.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys for Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares, who is charged with killing the UNC student in 2012, filed more than a dozen motions that could shape what evidence jurors hear when the case goes to trial.

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WRAL News first learned of the motions in July. Among the topics discussed Monday were expert evidence related to the 911 call made by Hedgepeth’s roommate and Hedgepeth’s blood alcohol level when she died. The court has 19 pre-trial motions to consider in total, from both the state and the defense.

On Monday, three motions were reviewed.

Hedgepeth's friends found her body on Sept. 7, 2012, at the Hawthorne on the View complex on Old Chapel Hill Road. Police said that her death was a homicide. Salguero-Olivares was arrested more than nine years later and has been in jail ever since.

Salguero-Olivares was present in court while the defense and prosecution went through what they want to use to make their cases. The court spent a lot of time on one motion from the state.

Prosecutors want to exclude testimony estimating Hedgepeth's blood alcohol concentration at the time of her death. They argued that the expert witness was dealing with incomplete information.

Salugero-Olivares' defense attorneys made the case that the expert witness's report should be accurate. On Monday afternoon, the judge ruled in favor of the state, meaning we will not hear from that witness.

The families of Hedgepeth and Salguero-Olivares were in the courtroom for these motions.

What the prosecution is expected to ask the judge

Prosecutors want to prevent the defense from suggesting another person committed the crime unless it first meets legal requirements outside the jury's presence.

They also want to prevent the jury from hearing about polygraph examinations conducted regarding the case.

Another motion from the state asks the court to exclude any findings of a 911 call analysis conducted in 2014. The prosecution argues that the findings are not based upon reliable methods or data.

Prosecutors are also asking the court to ban photos and video of Hedgepeth's former roommate and close friend while they testify due to years of "relentless media coverage."

What Salguero-Olivares' attorneys plan to ask the judge

Salguero-Olivares' defense team also filed several motions in the case.

One motion asks the court to order prosecutors to turn over records related to the state's decision to charge Salguero Olivares in 2021 with murder, but not rape, sexual offense or burglary until 2024.

The motion references a 2021 email from a spokesperson for the Chapel Hill Police Department to the department's chief, Celisa Lehew. The email states that reporters would likely ask why sex offense charges were not filed.

More defense filings ask the court to prevent testimony that would suggest Hedgepeth was wearing plaid boxer shorts the night of her murder. An observation by an officer indicated the boxers appeared as though they were taken off by someone else. The motion says that observation is an opinion, and that no witness has said Hedgepeth was wearing those boxers.

The trial is scheduled to start on Sept. 28.

Timeline of the case

Hedgepeth was just 19 years old and a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill when she was found dead in September 2012.

Hedgepeth was from Hollister in Warren County. She was a junior biology major from who, friends said, had talked about becoming a doctor or doing something to help others. She worked at Red Robin in Durham and was weeks shy of turning 20.

It took the better part of a decade for authorities to identify a suspect in the case, and her family said they always remained hopeful for a break in the case.

Below is a timeline of the major developments in the case.

Sept. 7, 2012

Friends found Hedgepeth's body Friday morning at her apartment at the Hawthorne on the View complex on Old Chapel Hill Road. Police said that her death was a homicide, but they did not elaborate on how she died. They did not believe the crime was random.

Sept. 14, 2012

Neighbors begin to express concern about the lack of information from police, as well as the fact that no arrest had been made.

"It's evolved from, 'It's not random,' to 'OK, there's going to be an arrest. Something's going to happen. It was an isolated incident,' to 'There's been no arrest, no news, nothing,’" said Anna Salomon. Salomon and her husband then lived in the subdivision next to the complex where Hedgepeth was killed.

Chapel Hill police said they were tirelessly working to solve the case.

Oct. 8, 2012

Hedgepeth's sister tells WRAL she had been helping a friend deal with an abusive relationship a few months before her death.

Rolanda Hedgepeth said that her sister had taken a friend to a Durham County courthouse in July to get a restraining order against the woman's ex-boyfriend.

In the application, the woman noted two occasions on which the man in question broke down doors in her apartment.

"I just wanted both of them to be safe," Rolanda Hedgepeth said. Her sister moved in with the friend, and it was in their shared apartment that her body was found.

Jan. 8, 2013

A new discovery summons hope in the case.

FBI analysts issue a profile of the man they believe killed Hedgepeth after police found DNA evidence in her apartment. Chapel Hill police said Hedgepeth and her roommate went to The Thrill, a local nightclub, the previous night and that she was last known to be alive at 3 a.m. on Sept. 7.

The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit has told police that they believe the killer knew Hedgepeth and might have lived near her in the past and that he might have made comments about her to close associates.

Sept. 4, 2014

Almost exactly two years after Hedgepeth was found dead, new details were released in the investigation.

Police described a brutal attack on Hedgepeth, noting that blood was spattered on the bedroom wall and a closet door and that Hedgepeth was found in a pool of blood on the floor. An autopsy determined that she had been beaten to death.

"Faith’s body was positioned on the floor, leaning against the bed, with her shirt pulled up. She had no clothes from the waist down," Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said.

A fast-food takeout bag was on the bed with "I'm not stupid (expletive) Jealous" scribbled on it, police said.

Investigators found semen on her, but police wouldn't say whether she had been sexually assaulted or had consensual sex before she was killed. Blue said the DNA from the semen matched a man's DNA that was found elsewhere in the apartment.

Sept. 16, 2021

Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was taken into police custody Thursday morning and is currently being held at Durham County Detention Facility under no bond.

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said during Thursday's press conference that an arrest in the case was possible after the State Bureau of Investigation and the Chapel Hill Police Department submitted a DNA sample to the State Crime Lab that matched the DNA profile found at the original crime scene.

"When Celisa [Lehew] called me today and told me they made an arrest, my mind ... I went right back to September 2012," said Roland Hedgepeth, Faith Hedgepeth's father. "It's been a long nine years and nine days. I want to thank God for allowing me to stay alive to see this day."

"We had more than a dozen analysts work on this case at some point over the last nine years," said North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein. "And of course they only got evidence because of our incredible dedication and hard work of the Chapel Hill Police Department and the State Bureau of Investigation. These law enforcement folks never gave up on this case."

A day later, Eriq Jones, former boyfriend to Hedgepeth's roomate, said Salguero-Olivares was "prime suspect No. 1" in the days following the murder.

April 20, 2023

Attorneys explain why it's taken nearly 10 years for Chapel Hill police to make an arrest.

Nov. 14, 2024

In addition to a murder charge, Salguero-Olivares is charged with first-degree burglary, rape and first-degree sexual offense.

July 10, 2025

Newly filed documents in the case show previously uncovered claims around those close to her on the night she was murdered.

WRAL multiplatform associate producer Kate Chapman contributed to this story.