Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares is facing life in prison for the September 2012 crime
Credit: Courtesy of Ronald Hedgepeth
NEED TO KNOW
- The body of UNC student Faith Hedgepeth was found in her off-campus apartment on the morning of Sept. 7, 2012.
- Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares was charged in 2021 after DNA evidence linked him to the 2012 crime scene
- He has now pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 28
The man accused of killing a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student has pleaded not guilty nearly 14 years after her death.
Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares, 33, is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense and first-degree burglary in connection with the September 2012 death of 19-year-old Faith Hedgepeth.
He appeared in a Durham County, N.C., court where his attorney James Rainsford delivered the plea in a pretrial hearing, 97.9 The Hill and The Daily Tar Heel reported.
Credit: Raleigh/Wake CCBI
PEOPLE reached out to Rainsford for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Hedgepeth was a junior at UNC at Chapel Hill when her body was found in her off-campus apartment on the morning of Sept. 7, 2012, by her roommate Karena Rosario as she was returning home to their unit.
Salguero-Olivares was charged in September 2021 after DNA uncovered by the Chapel Hill Police Department matched him to the scene of the crime.
An autopsy later determined that Hedgepeth died after a severe beating to the head, according to NBC News. Hedgepeth’s shirt was lifted upward, and she had no clothes from the waist down, WRAL News previously reported, citing the autopsy report.
The words, “I’M NOT STUPID [expletive], JEALOUS,” were also written on a fast-food paper bag located near her body, as well as a pen with DNA that matched the DNA found on Hedgepeth.
Salguero-Olivares’ mother defended him at the time of his arrest, saying, “My son is not a murderer. I believe in my son. I believe it. He said he don’t know the girl,” according to WRAL.
Before Salguero-Olivares was charged, Hedgepeth’s mother, Connie Hedgepeth, spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about her hopes for the case and her daughter’s killer.
“I pray that every time they close their eyes that they can see her, that they can see her smile, that they see her dancing,” Connie told PEOPLE. “Maybe one day their heart will soften enough where they would come forth and tell us what they know.”
Credit: Facebook
Although Salguero-Olivares has maintained his innocence, Connie was relieved that there was an arrest in her daughter’s case.
“When I got the news this morning, I didn’t do anything but cry and thank God and praise God,” she said during a press conference at the time. “When I cried, it was tears of joy, tears of relief that someone had been arrested.”
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The North Carolina Attorney General added, “To the murderers and rapists, no matter how long ago you committed your crime, we will never stop coming for you.”
Salguero-Olivares’ trial is scheduled to begin on Sept. 28. If found guilty of murder, he will receive an automatic life sentence.
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