Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Murder of Faith Hedgepeth

The body of Faith Hedgepeth(born September 26, 1992), an undergraduate student in her third yearat the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), was foundin her apartment by a friend on the morning of September 7, 2012. Shehad been beaten over the head with a blunt instrument, later found tobe an empty liquor bottle, and evidence of male DNA was present atthe crime scene. The last time she was known for certain to be alivewas much earlier that morning, when she went to bed after returningfrom a local nightclub with her roommate.

Police have recovered considerableforensic evidence in the case, but so far it has served to eliminateone likely suspect, a former boyfriend of her roommate who reportedlyexpressed anger and resentment toward Hedgepeth, even supposedlythreatening to kill her if he could not reunite with her roommate.His DNA, however, did not match that left at the scene. A note leftat the scene, suggesting the writer was jealous, is also believed tohave been written by the killer; it was among a large group ofdocuments released by police two years after the crime, following acourt action brought by several local media outlets.

Four years after the killing, aVirginia DNA testing company prepared and released, at police'sbehest, an image showing what the suspect might look like based onhis genetic phenotype. A voicemail possibly accidentally recorded byHedgepeth may also capture some of the events that led to her death.The Chapel Hill police continue to investigate.

Background

A member of the Haliwa-Saponi NativeAmerican tribe recognized by the state of North Carolina, FaithHedgepeth was born in 1992 in Warren County, part of the tribe'straditional territory. Her parents divorced within a year of herbirth, and she was raised by her mother, with help from an oldersister, in Hollister and Warrenton. Connie Hedgepeth named her seconddaughter Faith because she believed that was what she needed to raisea fourth child when she already had two sons and a daughter with ahusband with a drug problem.

In high school, Hedgepeth was an honorstudent, a cheerleader and a member of many extracurricular clubs andorganizations. She did well enough academically to earn a GatesMillennium Scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina atChapel Hill. Her father had attended UNCCH as well, but had droppedout. She hoped to be the first in her family to graduate fromcollege. After undergraduate studies, she was considering furtherstudies to become either a pediatrician or teacher.

Her first two years at the universitywent well for her, although she took the spring 2012 semester off. She remained in the Chapel Hill area over the summer, living in anoff-campus apartment at the Hawthorne at the View complex betweenChapel Hill and Durham, on the line between Durham and Orangecounties, during the month of August. She planned to move to anotherapartment after her financial aid for the fall semester was madeavailable to her. She shared the apartment with Karena Rosario, withwhom she had been friends since freshman year, and Rosario'sboyfriend, Eriq Takoy Jones.

The relationship between Jones andRosario had been marked by domestic violence, and eventually sheended it and he moved out. However, he had in early July 2012 twiceattempted to break into the apartment, even after Rosario changed thelocks. Hedgepeth eventually drove Rosario to court to get aprotective order that required Jones to stay away from the apartment. Jones reportedly resented Hedgepeth's influence over his formergirlfriend, and at one point reportedly threatened during a phoneconversation with Hedgepeth to kill her if he could not get backtogether with Rosario.