The trial of a man accused of killing a North Carolina college student 14 years ago began Wednesday with the prosecution alleging she was killed in a fit of rage by a stranger who left his DNA all over the crime scene. The defense countered that the evidence does not add up. Miguel Salguero Olivares is charged with first-degree murder, rape, and burglary in the death of Faith Hedgepeth. She was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when she was found beaten to death in her off-campus apartment in September 2012. In her opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Angela Garcia-Lamarca stated that the defendant left his DNA on the murder weapon—a bottle of rum covered in blood—as well as inside Hedgepeth’s body and on a note written on a fast-food bag found at the scene. Garcia-Lamarca described Hedgepeth as a caring friend who was beloved by everyone who knew her and was on track to become the first person in her family to graduate from college. She asserted that the defendant committed the acts in a fit of rage, noting that he did not target her for who she was, but because of who he is. According to the prosecution, Hedgepeth and her roommate had visited a local club that night. Hedgepeth, who acted as the designated driver, drove them home at approximately 2 a.m. The roommate was intoxicated and sick, later calling a friend to pick her up around 4 a.m., and returned hours later to discover Hedgepeth dead. Defense attorney James Rainsford urged jurors in his opening statement to question where the rest of the evidence is, pointing out that prosecutors left out key details. He highlighted that the friend who picked up the roommate reported seeing what looked like blood on her hands, a downstairs neighbor heard loud thumps between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m., and police later lost evidence related to potential blood in the apartment’s bathroom. Salguero Olivares was arrested in 2021, over nine years after the killing, after a DNA sample submitted to the state crime lab matched a profile found at the crime scene. Prosecutors also highlighted a message scribbled on the fast-food bag reading, “I’m Not Stupid (expletive) Jealous”. Karena Rosario, the roommate who discovered the battered body, testified as one of the state’s first witnesses [1.1.6]. Sobbing on the stand, Rosario described finding Hedgepeth’s body off the bed with her shirt pulled up and nothing on from the waist down, recounting the agonizing wait for emergency services [1.1.6]. The trial continues as testimony and presentation of evidence proceed.
Source: cbsnews.com
