Zoe Welsh, a science teacher at Raleigh’s Ravenscroft School, was killed in her home Saturday.
The fence surrounding 819 Clay St. was shut Sunday afternoon, with a wooden board covering one of the home’s two front windows. Police had cleared from the area, and people were enjoying a sunny day across the road in Fred Fletcher Park.
A red SUV was parked in the driveway. It displayed a breast cancer awareness logo on its license plate and a bumper sticker from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Early Saturday morning, Raleigh police had responded to a report of a burglary in progress at this house. The burglar began to attack the victim, school teacher Zoe Welsh, while Welsh was still speaking to the police, the police say.
“The complainant was screaming, but I am silent now,” a Raleigh police dispatcher said at 6:34 a.m. Saturday, according to a call simulcast database. Four minutes later, an officer reported seeing a smashed window at the scene. Then at 6:40 a.m., another officer reported, “I have a female down. She’s got a severe hemorrhage to the left side of her head.” Welsh was taken to a local hospital, where she died.
Officers immediately searched the neighborhood for a suspect wearing a gray or tan sweatshirt, with a request going out at 6:44 a.m. for a drone pilot to examine the Clay Street area. Raleigh Police arrested Ryan Camacho, 36, who was charged Saturday with murder and felony burglary.
Who is suspect Ryan Camacho?
Public records show Camacho has a criminal record dating back to 2005, including a 2019 conviction for discharging a firearm into an occupied Wake County property, for which he was incarcerated. More recently, he was convicted of seven misdemeanors in November 2024 in Durham County, with one of the charges being breaking and entering.
Camacho’s summary on the N.C. Department of Adult Corrections database indicates he had previously been incarcerated a total of five years and seven months, including for a three-month period from April to July 2025 for violating the terms of his post-incarceration release in Wake County.
Who was slain teacher Zoe Welsh?
With questions on this apparent homicide still unanswered, Welsh’s friends and former students on Sunday shared fond memories of a beloved educator.
“A lot of conversations with friends today, of just how genuinely nice she was,” said Lisa Ginger of Raleigh, who knew Welsh since they attended Daniels Middle School (now Oberlin Magnet Middle School).
Ginger recalled Zoe’s two siblings, including how her late older brother, Reed Mullin, was the drummer for the Grammy Award-nominated metal band Corrosion of Conformity. “Raleigh’s a big city now,” Ginger said in a phone call. “But when you grow up here, and you have ties to the area, you tend to cling to those from here.”
A mother of two in her late 50s, Welsh taught science at Leesville Road High School in the Wake County Public Schools System before taking a position at the private Ravenscroft School in North Raleigh.
819 Clay Street in Raleigh, N.C. was the scene of a suspected burglary and homicide on Jan. 3, 2026. Brian Gordon [email protected]
“She wanted to make biology a fun and interesting topic for all students,” wrote Lauren Knight, who graduated from Ravenscroft in 2010, in a private Reddit message to The News & Observer. “I particularly remember and loved the photosynthesis song! She spent extra time helping me grasp concepts and you could tell she really cared for her students.”
Ravenscroft spokesperson Elizabeth McKinnon said the school will offer students, instructors and staff grief counseling and other support resources as classes resume Monday after winter break.
“The Ravenscroft community is devastated by the loss of our beloved colleague and friend Zoe Welsh,” the school wrote in a statement. “Zoe has been a cornerstone of our Upper School Science Department and the Ravenscroft community since 2006. She previously served as the science department chair.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2026 at 5:27 PM.
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Brian Gordon
The News & Observer
Brian Gordon is the Business & Technology reporter for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. He writes about jobs, startups and big tech developments unique to the North Carolina Triangle. Brian previously worked as a senior statewide reporter for the USA Today Network. Please contact him via email, phone, or Signal at 919-861-1238.
