Wednesday marks the third day of pre-trial motions in the Faith Hedgepeth case.
Hedgepeth, who was a junior at UNC-Chapel Hill, was killed in 2012. The case is scheduled to go to trial on Sept. 28.
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Wednesday's evidentiary hearing is focused on a motion concerning missing forensic evidence. The motion involves blood samples collected from a bathroom door frame that went missing shortly after they were collected. As part of their motion, the defense says they are trying to determine whether the lost blood sample was “either lost after being collected,” or “never actually collected.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, four witnesses had testified in the hearing.
Sheleathea Quick, who was the head forensic technician with the Chapel Hill Police Department in 2012, was the first witness to take the stand. She testified about what she remembers from the investigation and the collection of evidence.
Quick told the defense she remembered being in the bathroom and seeing what appeared to be blood on the door frame. She said she told the other technician to collect a swab, placed it in a white bag and put it in the truck.
Quick said then she had to leave for Louisburg and did not know what had happened at the station while she was gone.
When she eventually returned to the station and locked the evidence in the property room, Quick said she noticed the blood evidence was not there.
“I presumed it would turn up,” Quick testified. Next on the stand was Tamika Price, who was a forensic technician with the Chapel Hill Police Department in 2012 and responded to the scene.
Price testified that the blood sample could not be located when investigators later went to retrieve it from evidence storage. She said she could not recall what efforts were made to find the missing sample or whether she notified anyone that it was missing.
The defense also questioned Price about a 2025 court order seeking clarity about the missing evidence. Price said she was interviewed by Chapel Hill police as part of that effort.
Price testified that several items collected from the bathroom were entered into the evidence system, but there was no record in the system of the swab taken from the bathroom door frame.
“Even though it's not in the system, there's no disagreement that the swab was collected and then couldn't be located, correct?” Defense Attorney Rainsford asked Price.
“Correct,” Price responded.
During cross examination of both witnesses, the state asked each if they had lost or destroyed the swab on purpose, if they had any reason to lose or destroy the swab on purpose, and if anyone else with CHPD would have had any reason. Both responded no.
The defense next called Erin Ermish, a forensic scientist with the North Carolina State Crime Lab.
After reviewing a photo of the bloodstain, Ermish testified she would “probably expect to get a DNA profile” from a collected sample.
Ermish also said knowing the original blood sample had been lost would likely factor into a decision to test other available evidence.
The defense then called Rodney Matthews, a now-retired lieutenant with the Chapel Hill Police Department.
Matthews testified that he did not recall being told the blood sample had been lost.
However, when asked whether he doubted the testimony of Quick and Price about the missing evidence, Matthews said he did not.
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