Judge tracker
Judge Keith O. Gregory's record in serious criminal cases
About the judge
Superior Court Judge, Wake County (N.C.)
Keith O. Gregory is a Wake County, N.C., Superior Court judge who presided over the Faith Hedgepeth murder trial in Durham County and sentenced Miguel Salguero-Olivares to life without parole on Oct. 23, 2026. Gov. Roy Cooper appointed him in 2018, and he won election that November. A former prosecutor and defense lawyer, he won re-election unopposed on Nov. 3, 2026, according to unofficial results.
Appointed by the governor, then elected
Bench Watch Brief · What the data shows
Bench Watch logs decisions by Judge Keith O. Gregory of North Carolina's Superior Court in serious criminal cases, from court records and news reports. It isn't a complete record. It includes his Wake County murder and sex-crime sentences since 2021 and his rulings in the Salguero-Olivares murder case, which he presided over through the Oct. 23, 2026, verdict and sentence.
14 entries · select a column to sort
| Source | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026Election year | State v. Salguero-Olivares | Sentence: first-degree murder, rape, sexual offense and burglary (jury trial) | Life without parole, plus consecutive terms of 64 to 89 months and two of 240 to 348 months | Life without parole was the only sentence for first-degree murder once the state didn't seek death (G.S. 14-17); notice of appeal filed | SourceCase file | |
| 2026Election year | State v. Salguero-Olivares | Dismissal | Refused to dismiss the case over a lost blood swab | Defense asked to dismiss; prosecutors said there was no bad faith and called the loss negligence | SourceCase file | |
| 2026Election year | State v. Salguero-Olivares | Openness | Denied the prosecution's request to seal pretrial motions | Prosecution asked to seal; defense opposed | SourceCase file | |
| 2025 | State v. Salguero-Olivares | Ruling: trial date, missing evidence and witnesses | Set trial for Sept. 28, 2026; ordered prosecutors to get police to account for a missing blood sample; said two out-of-state witnesses should testify in person | Prosecutors: a September 2026 trial. Defense: May 2026, and depositions of the two witnesses | Source | |
| 2024 | State v. Taiseer Zarka | Sentence (voluntary manslaughter, jury) | 5 to 7 years, plus therapy, no contact and community service | Victim's parents asked for the maximum | Source | |
| 2023 | State v. Tyshon Gerod Solomon | Sentence: two counts of first-degree murder in a drive-by shooting (jury trial) | Consecutive terms of life without parole | No prejudicial error on appeal (2025) | Source | |
| 2023 | State v. Michael Gregory Plaza Jr. | Sentence: first-degree murder and felon in possession of a firearm (jury trial) | Life without parole, plus 21 to 35 months | No error on appeal (2024) | Source | |
| 2023 | State v. Horace Devon Teel | Sentence: voluntary manslaughter in a fatal shooting (jury verdict; sentence agreed in a plea) | 68 to 94 months | Agreed in a plea agreement after the verdict | Matched the agreed sentence; no error on appeal (2024) | Source |
| 2023 | A Wake County man (name withheld to protect a child) | Sentence: indecent liberties with a child and a statutory sex offense (jury trial) | 364 to 536 months | The Court of Appeals overturned the convictions; the N.C. Supreme Court reversed that ruling (2026) | Source | |
| 2022 | State v. Elijah Umelo and Roland Lacure | Sentence (first-degree murder) | Life without parole for both | Source | ||
| 2022 | State v. Devin Cordell Jones | Sentence: second-degree murder (guilty plea) | 18 years to 22 years 8 months | A negotiated plea | Source | |
| 2021 | State v. Freeman | Sentence: armed robbery and conspiracy in a robbery where a co-conspirator killed a man (guilty plea) | Presumptive range on the robbery counts; cut a separate trafficking sentence to 41 to 59 months for substantial assistance | Defense: a mitigated sentence for testifying at a murder trial; the state agreed he had cooperated | Presumptive range; declined to find mitigating factors; appeal dismissed (2022) | Source |
| 2021 | State v. Pedro Isaias Calderon | Sentence: three counts of indecent liberties with a child (jury trial) | Three consecutive terms of 16 to 29 months | Upheld by the N.C. Supreme Court (2025) after the Court of Appeals had ordered resentencing | Source | |
| 2021 | State v. Curtis Levon Jackson | Sentence: second-degree forcible rape and sex offense, first-degree kidnapping (jury trial) | Sentenced on the remaining convictions after arresting judgment on one assault count; length not stated in the opinion | No error on appeal (2024) | Source |
How we built this
This tracker counts Judge Gregory's sentences and key rulings in serious criminal cases, meaning homicide, sex crimes and other violent felonies, and major federal crimes, plus rulings in cases Bench Watch follows. The goal is to cover the judge's whole time on the bench, so we log the most recent five years first, then work back, and the “Covers” line shows the years logged so far. Each row links to its source, whether a court record, an appeals opinion, an official release or a news report.
This is not a complete record. North Carolina doesn't publish sentencing data by judge, and the state's court portal blocks automated searches. Bench Watch adds decisions as it confirms them.
We leave “What each side asked” blank when the source didn't report it. “Compared with the options” sets the decision against what the law allowed, the sentencing guidelines and any joint recommendation, as reported in the source. We don't name victims. When naming a defendant would identify a child victim, we withhold the name.