DURHAM, North Carolina — Jurors in the trial of Miguel Salguero-Olivares on Friday found him guilty of first-degree murder, rape, sexual offense and burglary in the killing of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student Faith Hedgepeth, NCN News reported via WPTF. The verdict came more than 14 years after Hedgepeth, 19, was found beaten to death in her off-campus apartment in Chapel Hill on September 7, 2012.

Source: WPTF / NCN News, Oct. 23, 2026

The 9th Street Journal, which covered the trial live from the Durham courthouse, reported that Salguero-Olivares was found guilty on all four felonies and that Judge Keith Gregory then sentenced him on the murder count to life in prison without the possibility of parole — the mandatory sentence, after the Durham County District Attorney's Office had decided not to seek the death penalty. The judge imposed maximum consecutive terms on the burglary, rape and sexual offense counts, which other reporting summarised as 45 to 65 additional years, and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life.

Source: The 9th Street Journal, Durham, Oct. 23, 2026

Salguero-Olivares was arrested in September 2021, nine years after Hedgepeth's death, WPTF reported. Prosecutors told jurors that forensic evidence, including DNA, pointed to him; he was identified after a DNA sample taken following a later driving-while-intoxicated stop matched evidence from the crime scene, according to trial reporting. He did not testify, and on Wednesday the defence rested without calling any witnesses, WPTF said.

The jury began deliberating on Thursday and asked to see summaries of lab reports and fingerprint readings before returning its verdict on Friday, the 19th day of the trial including jury selection, WPTF reported. The 9th Street Journal reported that Hedgepeth's family gave victim-impact statements after the verdict. Her mother, Connie Hedgepeth, said the family had waited a long time and now had closure and peace, and said she had forgiven what happened. Her father, Roland Hedgepeth, counted the wait as 5,158 days.

Salguero-Olivares, who could be heard protesting as the verdict was read, intends to appeal his convictions and sentences, his defence attorneys indicated in court, according to reporting on the proceedings.