CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A jury has convicted Miguel Salguero Olivares, 33, of first-degree murder, rape, sexual offense and burglary in the 2012 killing of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill sophomore Faith Hedgepeth, closing out a cold case that took investigators nearly a decade and a half to crack.

A judge sentenced Salguero Olivares to life in prison without the possibility of parole on the murder charge, plus an additional 45 to 65 years on the other counts, according to Axios.

Hedgepeth, a 19-year-old member of the Haliwa-Saponi Indian tribe, was found dead in her off-campus apartment in September 2012. The case went unsolved for years until investigators used genetic genealogy — tracing DNA through ancestry databases — to develop Salguero Olivares as a suspect, then collected a confirming DNA sample from him during a 2021 traffic stop in Raleigh.

DNA on a Bottle, a Bag and a Body

Prosecutors told jurors that Salguero Olivares' DNA was found on Hedgepeth's body, on a note written on a fast-food bag at the scene, and on a blood-covered rum bottle identified as the weapon used in the killing, according to Fox 2 Detroit. The defense argued investigators developed tunnel vision focused on their client and challenged how the crime scene was handled; Salguero Olivares did not testify in his own defense.

SHE FORGAVE HIM — EVEN AS SHE GRIEVES FOR HIS FAMILY, TOO

Hedgepeth's mother told reporters outside the courthouse that she had forgiven her daughter's killer long ago, even as she continues to grieve. Salguero Olivares' attorneys have indicated he plans to appeal the conviction.

The case drew renewed national attention to the backlog of unsolved murders of Indigenous women, an issue advocacy groups have pushed federal and state lawmakers to address with more funding for cold-case DNA testing.

What's next: Salguero Olivares' appeal is expected to focus on the DNA collection process and the genetic-genealogy techniques investigators used to identify him as a suspect.