DA seeks to block pre-trial release of motions in Faith Hedgepeth murder case
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- DA asked to seal all future motions and orders before the Sept. 28 trial.
- DA Satana Deberry said recent filings contained falsehoods that could taint jurors.
- Salguero Olivares was charged with murder in 2021; other charges were added in 2024.
The Durham County district attorney is asking a judge to seal future motions in the Faith Hedgepeth murder case, arguing that defense filings are distorting evidence in the 13-year-old slaying.
On Thursday, the office took the unusual step of filing a motion seeking to prevent all future motions and orders in the high-profile case from being released to the public before the trial, which is currently set for Sept. 28.
“The last group of filings that they made had a bunch of falsehoods and allegations that were not true in them, and one of the things that I do not want to do is taint our jury pool,” District Attorney Satana Deberry told The News & Observer on Friday.
In September 2012, police found Hedgepeth’s body in a Chapel Hill apartment she shared with fellow UNC-Chapel Hill student Karena Rosario. Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old sophomore, planned to stay at the apartment in the first weeks of school while she awaited financial aid.
A man’s DNA was collected for a rape kit and found on a wine and liquor bottle and a note believed to be written by the killer, according to search warrants.
Arrest in the Faith Hedgepeth case came 9 years after killing
The Chapel Hill Police Department did thousands of interviews and performed hundreds of DNA tests based on forensic evidence found at the apartment.
In 2021, nine years after the killing, police charged Miguel Salguero Olivares with murder and placed him in the Durham County jail, where he remains.
In November 2024, prosecutors added burglary, rape and sexual offense charges, alleging Salguero Olivares broke into Hedgepeth’s home and raped her.
Filings raise questions about roommate
In court filings starting in July 2025, Salguero Olivares’ attorneys questioned whether Rosario had been at the apartment at the time of the killing and why she had a drop of blood on her finger around the time of the killing.
Around midnight the night before the killing, Hedgepeth and Rosario went to The Thrill, a now-closed Chapel Hill nightclub on Rosemary Street. They left the club around 2:06 a.m. and returned to the apartment, according to court documents.
Rosario told police she left the apartment around 4:25 a.m., after she called Jordan McCrary, who she had seen at the club, to pick her up, according to court documents.
Rosario returned around 11 a.m. the next day. She called 911 frantic, trying to explain that she had found an unresponsive Hedgepeth lying on her back.
“I think she fell off the bed because she is like off the bed,” Rosario told a 911 operator. “There is blood all over the pillows, like in the comforter. I just don’t know what happened.”
In the middle of the bed was a hand-scribbled note on a fast food bag, court documents state. “I’M NOT STUPID BITCH” “JEALOUS.” Police believe a Bacardi Peach Rum bottle, found beneath the comforter and marked with two bloody thumb prints, was the murder weapon, according to court documents.
The motions filed by Salguero Olivares’ attorneys sought to test certain evidence in the case and to ensure Rosario and McCrary would be available to testify at trial.
In the filing this week, a prosecutor asked a judge to set a hearing on the request to seal all future motions and hearings. Salguero Olivares’ attorneys haven’t responded to the motion nor to an email and phone message left by a reporter from The N&O on Friday.
This story was originally published May 15, 2026 at 5:47 PM.
