Kriti Mehrotra
Faith Hedgepeth would have been the first person in her family to have graduated from college. By being an excellent student in high school, having great marks, and participating in extracurricular activities, she earned a Gates Millennium Scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She dreamt of becoming a doctor, specifically a pediatrician, but her dreams and her life came to a tragic end when she was bludgeoned to death in the early morning hours of September 7, 2012, weeks before her 20th birthday on September 26.
Faith Hedgepeth’s Nationality
Born in 1992 in Warren County, Faith was a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribe, a Native American tribe that is recognized by the state of North Carolina. Warren County is a part of the tribe’s traditional territory. Located in the Northeastern Piedmont area, the Haliwa-Saponi hold membership on the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs.
The name Haliwa is derived from the two counties: Halifax and Warren, which are the ancestral motherlands of the tribe’s people, dating as far back as the 1730s. In 1979, the tribe added the “Saponi” to their name to indicate that they had descendants from the historical Saponi peoples, formerly located in present-day Virginia and the Carolinas.
Faith Hedgepeth’s Parents
Faith is the youngest child of Roland and Connie Hedgepeth. Although born in Warren County, she grew up in Hollister, a small town on the Warren-Halifax County border. Her mother named her Faith because that is what she required to raise all of her kids peacefully and properly while being married to a man who had drug problems.
In any interview that Roland has given about his daughter, he doesn’t shy away from mentioning how Faith was a gift to him, arriving when he was at a low point in his life and when times were tough. However, just a few months after she was born, her parents went their separate ways, and Faith lived with her mother. Even though her father moved to a different town called Hickory, in North Carolina, Faith always remained in touch with him, and they were always close.
A North Carolina native through and through, when it came to picking a college, Faith knew that she had to follow her father’s footsteps and attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But unlike him, she didn’t want to drop out. She hoped to go all the way and achieve all her goals, but alas, who knew how her life would turn out.
Faith Hedgepeth’s Siblings
Faith was the youngest of the four siblings; she had two elder brothers named Chadwick and Caleb, along with an elder sister by the name of Rolanda. Rolanda, who was 18 when her Faith was born, helped Connie a lot when it came to raising her, and in a way, became not just Faith’s sister but also her second mother.
Rolanda, a fiercely independent woman who is extremely protective of her siblings, keeps Faith’s memories alive on her social media and by giving interviews. She doesn’t shy away from mentioning how much she wishes that her murderer had already been caught, but she also makes sure to remember the good times.
Although Caleb isn’t very vocal about what has happened and also doesn’t make a lot of public appearances, Faith’s other brother, Chadwick, like their sister, is active in talking about getting Justice for Faith. The father of four uses his platform to talk about not just his lost sister but also the family that he has gained along the way.
We hope that one day soon, Faith’s killer is caught and that the entire family can get the peace and justice that they deserve.
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