Ryan Camacho, 36, is charged with the Jan. 3, 2026, murder of Ravenscroft
teacher Zoe Welsh.
Camacho has a 20-year criminal history in Durham and Wake
counties. He also has a history of mental illness.
Camacho’s mom, Cynthia Camacho, sought and was granted
guardianship over him multiple times, citing “incompetency.” WRAL
News went to her home on Monday, but she did not want to talk.
Here’s a look at Camacho’s history with law enforcement and mental illness:
Murder suspect may have been sleeping in park before
alleged murder, Raleigh police say
On Tuesday, Raleigh police said they believe that Ryan Camacho
may have been sleeping in Fletcher Park before Welsh’s death. Police said
investigators cannot determine how long he may have been there.
A lawyer for Camacho declined to comment.
In the past six months, Raleigh police have responded to
eight 911 calls at Fletcher Park, which is off Glenwood Avenue. Also, officers initiated 44 calls for service
at the park during the same time span. Of those,
police said 37 were security checks.
Ryan Camacho (right) is charged with murder in the death of Zoe Welsh. Camacho appeared in court on Monday, Jan. 5, 2026.
December 2025: Judge denies request to send Camacho to mental hospital
In December 2025, breaking-and-entering charges against
Camacho were dismissed after a mental competency examination.
During the hearing, prosecutors asked to have Camacho
involuntarily committed at a mental hospital, but that request was denied by Judge
Louis Meyer, according to District Attorney Lorrin Freeman.
WRAL News has reached out to Meyer for comment but has not
heard back.
Retired
North Carolina judge Carl Fox told WRAL News that even if Camacho was
involuntarily committed, there is no telling how long he could have stayed
behind bars.
“The judge has to make a decision based on the evidence
available to them at that point in time. They don’t have the benefit of … a crystal ball and look and see what’s going to happen,” Freeman said.
“Based on the evidence that was available to the court at the time, the court
did not find that he met the threshold for involuntary commitment. For
involuntary commitment, the judge has to make a finding that they are a danger
to themselves or others. And when we talk about danger in that context, it’s an
imminent danger to themselves or others.”
August 2025
The Raleigh Police Department arrested Camacho on Aug. 5, 2025, on a charge of misdemeanor larceny, according to public records.
Four felony charges from April 2025 reduced
to single misdemeanor
Public records reveal Camacho avoided a multi-year prison
sentence in 2025 due to a plea agreement that reduced four felony charges to a
single misdemeanor.
A conviction for any one of the four Class H felony
charges he faced would have resulted in a sentence between eight and 10
months. Had Camacho been convicted of all four charges, he would have
faced a prison sentence between three and four years.
A felony conviction could have seen Camacho behind bars on
Jan. 3. Instead, he is suspected of killing Welsh.
In July 2025, Camacho pleaded guilty to a Class I
misdemeanor charge of breaking and entering and was sentenced to a maximum of
120 days. The Durham County Sheriff’s Office said Camacho was behind bars from
July 6, 2025, until Aug. 4, 2025.
That plea downgraded his original charge for the April 3,
2025, incident. Court documents show Camacho was charged with:
Felony breaking and entering to terrorize or injureLarceny after breaking and entering
On April 3, 2025, court documents state Camacho broke into a
home along Weslyn Trace Drive near Oak Grove Parkway with a woman inside. He is
accused of trying to steal a bottle of beer worth $2, according to the
documents.
On April 6, he was charged with:
Breaking and enteringLarceny after breaking and entering
Court documents for that arrest show Camacho broke into a
building owned by the Grove Park HOA along Nichols Farm Drive near North Lake
Drive. He was accused of trying to steal a case of water worth
$8, according to the documents.
A mugshot of Ryan Camacho from July 2025. Photo courtesy of the Durham Police Department.
A decade of minor criminal charges
2025
The Durham County Sheriff’s Office arrested Camacho on
May 20, 2025, and released him to another law enforcement agency for its
charges against him three days later, on May 23, 2025.
Jan. 10, 2025
Durham County deputies arrested Camacho on Jan. 10,
2025, on a charge of malicious conduct by a prisoner. He posted unsecured bond
on Jan. 13, 2025, according to Durham County.
April 9, 2024
The Durham County Sheriff’s Office arrested Camacho on
April 9, 2024. He was charged with:
Three counts of injury to personal propertyFive counts of injury to real propertyMisdemeanor larcenyTwo counts of misdemeanor breaking and enteringParole violation
Durham County released Camacho on Dec. 16, 2024, to another
law enforcement agency for its charges against him.
March 11, 2024
The Durham County Sheriff’s Office arrested Camacho on
March 11, 2024, for a charge of injury to real property. Camacho was released the
following day.
2021
Camacho tried to escape from state prison in Salisbury,
according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. It’s not clear why he was serving time there.
June 8, 2021
The Durham County Sheriff’s Office arrested Camacho on
June 8, 2021.
It’s unclear what the charges were against Camacho, but he was released on Aug. 8, 2021, to another agency for its charges.
April 26, 2021
The Durham County Sheriff’s Office arrested Camacho on
April 26, 2021.
It’s unclear what the charges were against Camacho. He was
released on May 4, 2021, to another agency for its charges.
Feb. 19, 2021
Durham County deputies booked Camacho on the following
charges:
Felony breaking and enteringLarceny after breaking and enteringFelony possession of stolen goodsSafecrackingParole violation
Durham County released Camacho on March 29, 2021, to another
agency for its charges.
2019
In 2019, Camacho pleaded guilty to shooting into an occupied property in Wake County, court records show.
Raleigh police arrested Camacho on Jan. 4, 2019, for the charge, public records show.
June 2017
Public records show Raleigh police arrested Camacho on June 4, 2017, and charged him with misdemeanor larceny.
April 2017
Public records show Raleigh police arrested Camacho on April 7, 2017, on a misdemeanor charge for probation violation.
March 2017
Raleigh police arrested Camacho on March 26, 2017, for a charge of trespassing on a railroad right-of-way, public records show.
February 2017
Raleigh police arrested Camacho on Feb. 22, 2017, and charged him with misdemeanor stalking, public records show.
December 2016
Raleigh police arrested Camacho on Dec. 29, 2016, and charged him with injury to real property, according to public records.
October 2016
Raleigh resident and father Wes Phillips claims
Camacho stalked, harassed and terrified his family for more than a year.
“It’s not like there weren’t signs,” Phillips said. “We were
really adamant about the danger that we felt we were in, and perhaps other
people were in, and it just wasn’t taken seriously.”
Camacho’s actions, Phillips said, forced his family to move
twice, and pleas that something be done went unanswered.
Phillips said one of the scariest moments came on Oct. 8,
2016, during Hurricane Matthew. Phillips said he was with his son at their
then-home in Mordecai when he looked outside and saw Camacho.
“It was like a horror movie, like he was standing there in a
black jacket, staring at us in front of our house during a hurricane. Not
talking, like making sure that we knew who he was,” Phillips said.
Phillips had already moved his family once that year, he
says, to get away from Camacho, who had lived next door to the family in the
Five Points area. Phillips said the move came after property damage and
disturbing behavior from Camacho.
On Oct. 8, 2016, Phillips called the police and then jumped
in his car, shooting video on his cellphone. At one point in the video, Camacho
can be seen trying to open the driver’s side door.
“I had locked the car, and he was pulling on the door,
trying to get in,” Phillips said.
Phillips said Camacho eventually disappeared, returning
several days later. Phillips said he and his son were out when his wife looked
outside to see Camacho walk up and grab a large rock.
Security video taken that day shows a man throwing a rock
into the windshield of Phillip’s car, and then through the sunroof, before
punching and kicking the car several times.
Phillips moved his family again after that, trying to put as
much distance between his family and Camacho as he could.
Two years later, Camacho returned to the Phillips’ now
former Mordecai townhome, this time with a gun.
“He shot into our building where he thought that, I can only
assume, where he thought that we lived,” Phillips said. “That’s something that
stays with us.”
No one was injured in the shooting. Court documents show
Camacho did face multiple charges for shooting into an occupied dwelling,
ultimately spending two years in prison.
Phillips says that wasn’t enough. He said he called the
police three to four times about Camacho before that, and attempted to have a
no-contact order served. He said Camacho faced no charges for harassing
his family.
Freeman said Camacho spent a significant amount of time
behind bars, much of that time for shooting into Phillips’ former home.
“He has spent a lot of time bouncing between the prison
system and the local jails over the last few years and has really been in
custody all but maybe a total of 12 months within the past six years,” Freeman
said.