Faith Hedgepeth: What We Know

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Faith Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old UNC-Chapel Hill student from Hollister, N.C., was found killed in her off-campus apartment on Sept. 7, 2012. Nine years later, on Sept. 16, 2021, Chapel Hill police announced an arrest. A Durham man is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree rape and first-degree sexual offense. He has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. We are not naming him while no jury has been seated. Jury selection began Sept. 28, 2026 in Durham County Superior Court.

What's confirmed

1. Sept. 7, 2012, Chapel HillFaith Hedgepeth, 19, was found dead in her off-campus apartment. (Town of Chapel Hill release; WRAL; NBC News; WUNC)
2. Who she was: from Hollister, N.C.; a Gates Millennium Scholar at UNC who studied biology and wanted to be a pediatrician. She was born Sept. 26, 1992, and died 19 days before her 20th birthday. (The News & Observer; The Daily Tar Heel; WRAL; NBC News)
3. For nine years no one was charged. Investigators conducted thousands of interviews and tested hundreds of DNA samples. (The News & Observer; N.C. attorney general, 2021)
4. Sept. 16, 2021Chapel Hill police, working with the State Bureau of Investigation, announced the arrest of a Durham man on a first-degree murder charge. (Town of Chapel Hill news release, Sept. 16, 2021; NBC News; WUNC; WRAL)
5. The same day, North Carolina's attorney general said the arrest came after a DNA sample submitted to the State Crime Lab matched DNA collected at the scene in 2012. Later reporting says investigative genetic genealogy led investigators to him. (WUNC; NBC News; The News & Observer; ABC11)
6. Her father, Roland Hedgepeth, said that day: "It's been a long nine years and nine days." (WRAL; NBC News)
7. 2024prosecutors added charges of first-degree burglary, first-degree rape and first-degree sexual offense. (WRAL; The News & Observer)
8. Aug. 3, 2026he pleaded not guilty to all charges. (The Daily Tar Heel; Chapelboro; The News & Observer)
9. Sept. 21, 2026at the last pretrial hearing, Judge Keith Gregory sided with prosecutors: the defense may not argue to the jury that another person committed the crime. "The state is correct, and I'm going to agree with them," he said. (ABC11; The Daily Tar Heel; Chapelboro; WRAL)
10. Sept. 28, 2026jury selection began at the Durham County Courthouse. Because of the publicity, prospective jurors are being questioned one at a time. (WRAL; 9th Street Journal; ABC11)
11. As of the morning of Oct. 1, 2026 (day 4), no jurors had been seated. (9th Street Journal)

What's disputed

• Prosecutors say DNA from the scene points to the defendant. His lawyers dispute what that DNA evidence actually shows. A jury has not heard or weighed any of it yet. (The News & Observer; The Daily Tar Heel)

What we don't know

• When opening statements begin. They follow the seating of 12 jurors and alternates; the court has not set a date.
• The verdict. The trial is expected to last about four weeks once it starts. (ABC11; WRAL)

What happens next

• Jury selection continues in Durham. We'll post an UPDATE here when a jury is seated and opening statements are made, and again at the verdict.

Please note

The man charged has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. No one else has been charged in Faith Hedgepeth's death. The name on the Town's 2021 release is covered by us.

Spot an error? Email corrections@undercurrentdaily.com. See our corrections policy. Have information about this case? Contact the investigating agency first.

Part of What We Know: open cases, confirmed facts only · YouTube playlist