Mental health of man charged with killing Raleigh teacher was questioned a month ago
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- Public defender sought involuntary commitment hearing for Ryan Camacho in December.
- Judge dismissed burglary and larceny charges the day defenders requested review.
- Camacho faces murder charge after teacher Zoe Welsh died during 911 burglary call.
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Teacher slain in Raleigh
Zoe Welsh, a well-known teacher at Raleigh’s Ravenscroft School, was killed in a burglary at her home off of St. Mary’s Street early Jan. 3, 2026. Ryan Camacho has been charged with her murder, with court records showing he has a long history of mental health troubles. Here’s ongoing coverage from The News & Observer.
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Lawyers for the man charged with killing Raleigh school teacher Zoe Welsh on Saturday sought a hearing on his mental capacity just one month ago, court records show.
Ryan Camacho, 36, described himself as homeless in court documents in May, shortly after his release from prison on charges of discharging a firearm into occupied property.
In August, Raleigh police charged him with larceny and breaking and entering, accusing him of stealing a pair of pillows. He was jailed on those charges with bail set at $10,000.
Then in early December, Camacho’s public defender filed a motion seeking a hearing on whether Camacho should be involuntarily committed for mental health treatment.
The outcome of that hearing is not clear from available court documents, but a District Court judge dismissed the breaking and entering and larceny charges that day.
Public defenders later sought to have the judge, Louis Meyer III, recuse himself from the case because he questioned Camacho in court without attorneys present, according to court documents.
Meyer also questioned Camacho’s mother and a forensic evaluator without lawyers in the room, the motion from public defenders said. They have since dropped their motion.
The Wake County Public Defender’s Office did not respond to a request for comment Monday by the print deadline for this story.
Had tried to escape prison
Camacho is charged with murder in the death of Welsh, a science teacher, while she was on the phone with Raleigh 911 dispatchers reporting a burglary.
He appeared briefly in District Court for a first appearance Monday, where Judge Mark Stevens ordered him held without bail and appointed the capital defender’s office to represent him. As a murder defendant, Camacho is eligible for life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.
Prison records show he served five years and seven months for the firearms charge before his parole in 2024. But during that stint, he was charged with escape from prison in Rowan County in 2021, though he did not make it outside the gates in the unsuccessful breakout. The escape charge added another six to 17 months to his term.
In April, Durham police charged him with larceny and breaking and entering, accusing him of stealing a case of drinking water from a building owned by the Grove Park Homeowners Association.
He was released on $1 bail, and the charges were soon dropped, though a magistrate noted he had 10 other cases pending. As part of his release, Camacho was ordered to stay away from the apartment complex where the incident took place.
His arrest record in 2024 is extensive, mostly for injury to property and breaking and entering charges. At one point, he was placed on an electronic monitor and ordered to take a mental health evaluation. He also had his probation revoked and was sentenced to 120 days in jail, though given 91 days credit for time already served.
This story was originally published January 5, 2026 at 10:48 AM.
