@itslauren_hailey: Faith Hedgepeth’s family waited 14 years for this trial. Now a jury has to make sense of DNA pointing to a man who says he never even knew Faith, a note that sounds deeply personal, and a blood sample investigators collected… then lost. Faith was only 19. A UNC student who wanted to become a pediatrician and return home to serve her tribal community. On September 7th, 2012, she was found beaten to death in her apartment. Her roommate, Karena Rosario, said they had gone out together, returned home, and she later left Faith asleep around 4:25 a.m. The apartment door was left unlocked. She returned later that morning with a friend and found Faith. On the bed? A takeout bag with “I’M NOT STUPID B*TCH” and “JEALOUS” written on it. That sounds awfully personal for what prosecutors describe as an attack by a stranger. Was it staged? What was someone trying to say? Nine years later, genetic genealogy led investigators to Miguel Salguero Olivares. Prosecutors say his DNA was recovered from Faith’s body, the alleged murder weapon and the bag. He has denied killing her or ever meeting her. The defense is questioning the evidence and pointing to a friend’s report that Karena had blood on her hand when he picked her up, BEFORE Faith’s body was discovered. That does not establish that she hurt Faith, but it’s certainly something I want to hear explained. Then there’s the bathroom blood swab investigators collected and LOST. The judge called that “absurd.” Yes. Losing potentially important evidence in a murder investigation would qualify. Opening statements began October 7th, 2026. Fourteen years after Faith’s death, her family is finally getting a trial. You can watch on Court TV or ABC11’s live stream. I’ll be following along and posting updates here as well. ❤️‍🩹 #FaithHedgepeth #JusticeForFaith #CourtTV #TrueCrime #TrialWatch

Lauren Hailey

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Thursday 08 October 2026 17:03:03 GMT