DA not seeking death penalty in Faith Hedgepeth murder case
Prosecutors don't plan to seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student Faith Danielle Hedgepeth nine years ago.
Durham County District Attorney Satana Deberry filed notice Tuesday that her office will prosecute Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares as a non-capital case.
Salguero-Olivares, 28, of Durham, remains in the Durham County jail without bond on a charge of first-degree murder.
Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old sophomore, was found beaten to death in her off-campus apartment on Sept. 7, 2012. Investigators said an empty liquor bottle was used in the crime.
DNA found at the scene was recently matched to Salguero-Olivares, although investigators have declined to say how they obtained his DNA. He has no criminal history.
Police also have declined to comment on the relationship between Hedgepeth and Salguero-Olivares, who wasn't initially a person of interest in the investigation.
Of the 135 people on North Carolina's death row, none was convicted by a jury in Durham County.
