Nine years after a student at the University of North Carolina was brutally raped and beaten to death, her suspected killer has been arrested.
Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares, 28, was arrested on Thursday and charged with first-degree murder in the 2012 slaying of 19-year-old Faith Hedgepeth in her Chapel Hill apartment.
Details of the violent murder shocked the normally quiet college town, including the taunting note the killer scrawled on a fast-food bag and left next to Faith's body, reading: 'I'm not stupid b***h jealous'.
Salguero-Olivares was tied to the murder through a DNA match with evidence collected at the crime scene, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said at a press conference.
After nine years, police have finally charged a suspect in the murder of 19-year-old UNC sophomore Faith Hedgepeth, who was brutally raped and beaten to death in 2012
Details of the violent murder shocked the normally quiet college town, including the taunting note the killer left next to Faith's body, reading: 'I'm not stupid b***h jealous'
Police declined to comment on whether the suspected killer had any prior relationship with the victim, and also would not say whether Salguero-Olivares would be charged with sex crimes in addition to murder.
'Our agency has been committed to bringing justice to Faith and her family since the day of her murder, ' Chapel Hill Police Chief Chris Blue said.
'Nine years and nine days ago tragedy struck our community,' Blue said. 'Police officers responded to a heartbreaking scene. One where a promising young life had ended way too soon.'
'While today's arrest will not bring Faith back, we are not yet done getting answers for Faith's family,' Blue added, saying that the arrest of Salguero-Olivares marks the 'the next phase of this investigation.'
Faith Danielle Hedgepeth was found dead inside her off-campus apartment on Friday, September 7, 2012.
Faith had won a scholarship to study biology to UNC Chapel Hill and initially planned on becoming a doctor.
However, she fell behind in her studies and changed her major in her sophomore year after losing financial aid, deciding to focus on becoming an elementary school teacher.
Faith was a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe and grew up in Hollister, a small community in northeastern North Carolina
Faith's sister Rolanda Hedgepeth, mother Connie Hedgepeth and cousin Jonathan Hedgepeth join other family, friends and community members at a candlelight vigil in 2012
Members of the Stoney Creek drum group and others participated in the 2012 vigil for Faith at the Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School in Hollister, North Carolina
Faith's grave is seen at Mount Bethel Baptist Church Cemetery in Warrenton
Faith was a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe and grew up in Hollister, a small community in northeastern North Carolina.
At the Thursday news conference announcing the arrest of her suspected killer, Faith's parents both spoke briefly.
'When I got the news this morning I didn't do anything but cry. And thank God and praise God because I put it in his hands and it was his timing,' Faith's mother Connie said.
'It was an honor to be Faith's dad,' her dad Roland added.
In 2016, police released an autopsy report that revealed chilling details of the murder.
The report showed Faith had suffered extensive skull fractures and cuts to her face and head. She was also badly beaten on her arms and legs.
Faith and her roommate Karen Rosario had spent the previous evening out at a local club, returning home at around 3am. Rosario then left their apartment at around 4.30am, the last time anyone saw Hedgepeth alive.
The roommate returned approximately seven hours later and found Faith 'covered by a blanket on top of her slightly askew mattress with large amounts of blood.'
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (above) said Salguero-Olivares was tied to the murder through a DNA match with evidence collected at the crime scene
Police said her body was found in a pool of blood, and blood spatter was found on the wall and bedroom closet door of her apartment.
She was naked from the waist down and had her shirt pulled up over her breasts.
Investigators also discovered semen on her body, thought to be left by her killer, that matched a man's DNA found elsewhere in the apartment.
The autopsy determined that she had been beaten to death, dying of blunt force trauma to the head.
Initially, suspicion had focused on an allegedly violent ex-boyfriend of the roommate Rosario, who had placed a restraining order against him. However, those suspicions did not ultimately pan out.
Salguero-Olivares was taken into custody in nearby Durham on Thursday morning with the assistance of State Bureau of Investigation agents.
It was not clear whether he had an attorney to speak on his behalf. Salguero-Olivares is being held without bond at the Durham County Jail.
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