Remembering Zoe Welsh: A teacher, mother and friend who chose joy

For the people who knew Zoe Welsh best, one word comes up again and again: joy.

Welsh was a mother, longtime science teacher, traveler, and friend. Those closest to her say she had a way of finding joy, even during difficult moments, and encouraging the people around her to do the same.

“Zoe was just pro-joy,” said Angie Scioli, one of Welsh’s closest friends. “Pro-joy in silliness, in classroom culture.”

Matt Manlove, another longtime friend, described Welsh simply as “a bundle of joy.”

Welsh, 57, spent more than three decades teaching. She taught at Leesville Road High School before moving to Ravenscroft in 2006, where she continued teaching science for nearly 20 years.

Scioli said she talked with Welsh about retirement, but Welsh wasn't ready.

“I have ideas I want to do. I have things I want to try,” Scioli remembered Welsh telling her.

WRAL interviewed Welsh in 2011 for a story about one of her students being honored for their work. Her friends say the moment reflected the way Welsh approached teaching. She was more interested in celebrating her students than drawing attention to herself.

“I think that she loved young people and found their energy really invigorating,” Scioli said.

A teacher, mother and friend

Outside the classroom, Welsh's friends say her daughters, Caroline and Elliott, were at the center of her life.

“She wasn't a mom, she was mama,” Manlove said. “Especially to her daughters. Your typical mama bear.”

Manlove and his wife, Mary-Margaret, were close friends with Welsh, spent holidays with her family, and are godparents to Caroline.

“She was a wonderful mother. I'm blessed that my wife and I were able to be part of that and see her as a mom,” he said.

Welsh also loved to travel.

She was a member of the Travel Sisters Network, a group Scioli started in 2021 to bring solo female travelers together for trips.

“She found travel and camaraderie joyful,” Scioli said.

Her friends also remember her sense of humor.

Before one trip to Costa Rica, Manlove said Welsh's dog, Pippy, accidentally gave her a black eye.

People would ask what happened, and Welsh would have to explain that her dog had stepped on her eye.

“She was just hilarious,” Scioli said.

Lisa Ginger first met Welsh in seventh grade. The two later reconnected as adults and bonded over some of the challenges they shared as divorced, single mothers.

“I feel like I'm lucky that I got to be friends with her as adults too,” Ginger said.

Through those challenges, friends say Welsh maintained the outlook they had seen in her for decades.

“Zoe helped me understand that whatever the circumstances in your life, you can still access joy,” Scioli said. “It truly is a choice, even in the face of adversity.”

‘Choose freaking joy’

Just days into 2026, Welsh was killed inside her Raleigh home.

Raleigh police say Ryan Camacho, who had been living in a wooded area across the street, broke into Welsh's home and killed her.

“We all miss her a lot,” Scioli said. “We had no idea that we had so little time with her.”

At a celebration of Welsh's life at Ravenscroft in March, her friends heard a story that has since become a mantra for many of them.

Ginger said one of Welsh's coworkers recalled a time when Welsh was going through a difficult period in her life. After venting about what she was facing, the coworker asked her what she was going to do.

Welsh sighed.

“Well, I'm just going to choose freaking joy,” she said.

Welsh then shortened it to three letters: CFJ.

Manlove said Welsh and the coworker would yell “CFJ” to each other in the hallway.

Ginger said she now thinks about it during ordinary frustrating moments, even sitting in traffic.

“I just go, CFJ,” she said.

For Welsh's friends, CFJ has become both a way to remember her and a promise to carry forward the way she lived.

“I'm going to speak about her life and her mission as much as I can,” Scioli said, “because I think that that's what she wants us to do.”

Decades of warning

Welsh's killing also raised difficult questions about the man accused of murdering her and his history with North Carolina's criminal justice and mental health systems.

WRAL Investigates spent months examining Ryan Camacho's history, including repeated arrests and convictions, mental health concerns, plea agreements, and a court hearing weeks before Welsh's death.

The new WRAL documentary “Decades of Warning: Ryan Camacho and the Murder of Raleigh Teacher Zoe Welsh” examines what happened before Welsh was killed, the decisions made along the way, and what the case reveals about the intersection of mental health and the criminal justice system in North Carolina.

“Decades of Warning: Ryan Camacho and the Murder of Raleigh Teacher Zoe Welsh” airs Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on all WRAL platforms, including WRAL-TV, WRAL News+, and WRAL’s YouTube Channel.