Ryan Camacho had prior arrests and mental health findings before police say he killed Ravenscroft teacher Zoe Welsh.
RALEIGH, N.C. — Weeks before Ryan Vincent Camacho was accused of killing teacher Zoe Welsh inside her Raleigh home, prosecutors had asked a judge to commit him after a mental competency review in unrelated cases.
The request was denied, and the earlier charges were dismissed after a judge found the legal standard for involuntary commitment had not been met. The December court decision is now part of a wider public record surrounding Camacho, 36, who is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in Welsh’s Jan. 3 death. Newly released warrants say Camacho later made statements to detectives about killing Welsh with a rock.
Welsh, 57, was a longtime science teacher at Ravenscroft School. Raleigh police said she called 911 at 6:33 a.m. from her home at 819 Clay Street after hearing glass break and seeing a man inside. While she remained on the phone with dispatchers, the man began assaulting her, police said. Officers found Welsh suffering from life-threatening injuries and rendered aid until paramedics took her to a local hospital. She died despite lifesaving efforts. Police soon identified Camacho as the suspect and charged him with murder and felony burglary after he was taken into custody nearby.
The December court hearing has drawn attention because it happened less than a month before the killing. District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said prosecutors asked that Camacho be involuntarily committed after a competency evaluation in misdemeanor cases, but Judge Louis Meyer denied the request. Freeman said the standard required evidence that a person posed an imminent danger to himself or others. “The judge has to make a decision based on the evidence available to them at that point in time,” Freeman said after the killing. She said the court did not find that the threshold had been met. The charges in that earlier matter were dismissed.
Records cited in earlier court matters show Camacho had documented mental health issues for years. A 2019 filing described him as previously diagnosed with schizophrenia and said he had experienced intermittent auditory hallucinations and paranoia. The filing also said he had been found incapable to proceed in 2017 and treated at Central Regional Hospital. His mother, Cynthia Camacho, sought guardianship over him more than once and wrote in a 2021 petition that he had been diagnosed with mental illness in 2016 and was delusional at times. She wrote that he needed help and a structured living environment to break his cycle.
The criminal record is also lengthy. Local records show Camacho had arrests in Wake and Durham counties dating back roughly 20 years. In 2019, he pleaded guilty in a case involving shooting into occupied property. In 2021, state records show he tried to escape from a prison in Salisbury. In 2024 and 2025, he faced several property-related charges, including breaking and entering, larceny and injury to property. In July 2025, four Durham County felony charges from April were reduced through a plea deal to one misdemeanor breaking and entering charge. He was sentenced to a maximum of 120 days and spent about a month in jail before being released in August.
Those prior cases did not determine what happened at Welsh’s home, but they now frame the questions being asked around the murder prosecution. Prosecutors must prove the Clay Street charges based on the evidence collected in this case. The court must also decide whether Camacho is competent to stand trial now, not whether he had mental health problems in the past. A forensic evaluator wrote in March that she could not determine his capacity to proceed in other unrelated cases. That uncertainty could lead to more evaluations, hearings and delays before any trial begins. Camacho remains jailed without bond while the murder case continues.
The newly released warrant gives the clearest public account yet of what police say happened after Welsh’s 911 call. Investigators wrote that Welsh reported a man rifling through her kitchen and recognized him from Fred Fletcher Park, across the street from her home. The warrant says she gave a description while speaking with dispatchers before the attack was heard on the call. Officers later followed a police dog’s track to an apartment about half a mile away. There, they found a broken window and Camacho inside with blood on his hands, according to the warrant. Investigators also said Camacho had once lived in that apartment before being evicted.
During questioning, the warrant says, Camacho made comments that linked him to the manner of Welsh’s death. He asked detectives whether the interview was about “the lady’s head I bashed in with a rock” and referred to “the lady I killed.” Investigators have said clothing with blood on it was seized, along with a rock believed to have been used in the assault. Police have not announced a motive. They have not said Welsh and Camacho knew each other personally. One known link is geographic: Welsh told dispatchers she had seen him at Fletcher Park, which is near her home and where police believe he may have spent time before the killing.
Welsh’s death left Ravenscroft School grieving one of its longtime faculty members. The school said Welsh had been part of its Upper School Science Department for years and called her a cornerstone of the community. She taught biology and other science courses and was remembered by the school as a colleague and friend whose loss was deeply felt. Raleigh Police Chief Rico Boyce also described Welsh as a mother, friend and mentor. “Whenever there is a loss of life in our community, it affects us all,” Boyce said in a statement released after the arrest. He said officers’ swift response led to Camacho’s quick apprehension.
The next steps belong to the court. A Wake County grand jury indicted Camacho on Feb. 10, moving the case into the next stage of prosecution. Future hearings are expected to address evidence, discovery, custody status and competency. If Camacho is found competent, prosecutors can continue toward trial. If he is not, the court may order treatment and further review before the case can move forward. For now, the murder charge remains active, the burglary charge remains pending and Camacho remains in custody. His next listed appearance was April 30.
Author note: Last updated May 6, 2026.