Law

Documents remain sealed in murder of Haliwa-Saponi woman





The murder of Faith Hedgepeth, a member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe of North Carolina, remains unsolved and the media wants to know why police records remain under seal.

Hedgepeth, 19, was a student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was found dead in her apartment near campus on September 7, 2012.

Authorities say they continue to investigate. But media outlets are asking a judge to release numerous records, including the 911 call and the autopsy report.

“Eighteen months goes by and no one’s been charged and no one’s been arrested the public has the right to assume the trail has gone cold or it’s not being investigated in a diligent manner," Hugh Stevens, an attorney for The Daily Tar Heel, one of the media outlets seeking the records, said in court, the paper reported

Authorities collected a DNA sample that points to a male suspect. They also say Hedgepeth may have known her killer or that he may have talked about her in the days up to her death.

Get the Story:
Documents in murder of UNC student Faith Hedgepeth remain sealed pending judge's decision (WTVD 3/20)
Faith Hedgepeth records to stay sealed (The Daily Tar Heel 3/20)

Related Stories:
DNA evidence points to a male suspect in Indian woman's death (1/9)
Reward of $25K offered over death of Haliwa-Saponi woman (9/12)
Haliwa-Saponi Tribe in mourning after death of young woman (9/10)

Join the Conversation