A migrant branded a ‘mother’s worst nightmare’ raped and killed a young jogger then dragged her heavily-bleeding body to a culvert and dumped it, a court heard.  

Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, was hit with the grim epithet as he stood trial for the August 2023 murder of the 37 year-old jogger in Baltimore Friday.

Prosecutor Alison Healy said Martinez-Hernandez – accused of a separate murder in his native El Salvador before sneaking into the US – left a large 150 foot trail of blood after murdering Morin in the city’s Belair neighborhood. 

The culvert where he’s said to have left mother-of-five Morin to die had its walls completely covered with blood, with the jogger ‘left to die in a puddle of water,’ nearby, the Baltimore Sun reported. 

Morin’s mother Patricia could be seen struggling to hold back tears and grimacing Friday as Healy told of how the victim suffered 15 to 20 head wounds – some ‘deep.’ 

The horrifying opening statement detailed how Morin’s cellphone was smashed while her smartwatch was discarded during her violent final moments. 

Martinez-Hernandez went on the run after the killing, it was said, until he was finally arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 2024 after his DNA was allegedly found at the scene. 

A search of his phone showed he had searched for the terms ‘Bel Air,’ ‘Rachel’ and an incorrect spelling of her surname after the murder, the court was told. 

Morin’s 14 year-old daughter Violet Custer took the stand Friday to share how she’d slept in while her mom ran errands on the day she was killed.

Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, dragged Rachel Morin’s body for 150 feet after he murdered her, according to prosecutors

Rachel Morin’s suspected killer has appeared in court for the first time in a pretrial hearing which postponed the next court date to April 1, 2025

Custer began to panic later that evening after her mom’s messages went unanswered and the phone number no longer made a dial tone when called. 

Defense attorneys accused Custer of inconsistencies in her story and the child could be heard crying hysterically after completing her evidence.  

Morin’s boyfriend Richard Tobin reported her missing to police that evening. He went to the hiking trail he knew Morin frequented and found her green Dodge minivan there.

A search party found her body the next day and contacted Tobin, who told the court that the news had left him hysterical. 

Martinez-Hernandez is believed to have entered the United States illegally in 2023. 

The body of the 37-year-old mom-of-five was discovered in a tunnel along a popular hiking trail in Bel Air, Maryland 

The suspect in Morin’s murder has been linked by DNA to a home invasion and assault in LA back in March 2023 and had an outstanding murder warrant in El Salvador

Morin was reported missing by her boyfriend Richard Tobin (pictured together) after she went for a run on hiking trails and failed to return  

He murdered a woman in El Salvador, it is said and went on to assault a mother an daughter during a home invasion in LA, investigators believe.

None of that evidence will be admitted during his murder trial. He denies charges of rape and murder.

Sawyer Hicks, representing Martinez-Hernandez, claimed there were gaps in the case against his client.

He suggested Morin’s murder was a crime of passion and hinted that Morin’s boyfriend may have been involved. 

Martinez-Hernandez appeared in court Friday in a crisp white button-down shirt. He showed almost no emotion and used headphones to hear a Spanish translation of the proceedings.

His defense attorney cast doubt on the DNA evidence during his opening statements. 

He is facing six charges, including second and first degree murder, rape and kidnapping, which he denies. 

Morin’s mom Patty Morin said that her daughter’s death could have been prevented if there was tighter security at the border which could have picked up an outstanding warrant for the suspect in relation to another crime

If convicted, prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Morin’s murder inflamed debates about illegal immigrants after details of his previous alleged crimes emerged.

Morin’s mother, Patty Morin, last month criticized the immigration policies of the Biden-Harris administration.

She shared heartbreaking testimony in congress during a hearing titled, ‘A Country Without Borders: How the Biden-Harris Open-Borders Policies Have Undermined Our Safety and Security.’

‘If they had done the border protocols that were in place but was set aside, just a simple DNA swab, they would know that he had a INTERPOL warrant for murder in his home country,’ Morin said to the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Donald Trump said Morin’s murder was a horrific example of the president failing in his basic duty to protect American citizens.