CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Police arrested a man charged with the murder of a UNC-Chapel Hill student.
Investigators said the body of Faith Hedgepeth was discovered on Sept. 7, 2012. She was discovered dead in her Chapel Hill apartment bedroom. An autopsy revealed she died from a severe beating to her head.
According to WNCN, police arrested Miguel Enrique Oliveras who’s charged with first-degree murder in her death.
Connie Hedgepeth, Faith’s mother spoke after learning about the arrest in the case.
“When I got the news this morning, I didn’t do anything but cry and thank God and praise God,” Connie Hedgepeth said.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein said detectives and SBI agents conducted thousands of interviews.
“When I cried, it was tears of joy, tears of relief that someone had been arrested,” Connie Hedgepeth said.
Stein said 13 analysts at the State Crime Lab worked on the case, who worked through 53 submissions of evidence and analyzed 229 different samples to rule out suspects, according to WNCN.
Investigators said law enforcement brought a sample of evidence to the State Crime Lab which created a DNA profile derived from the original crime scene, Stein said.
Oliveras was placed in the Durham County Detention Center without bond.