Illegal migrant Victor Martinez-Hernandez has been jailed for life for raping and murdering mother-of-five Rachel Morin in Baltimore.
The man from El Salvador was convicted in April of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, and kidnapping related to the brutal attack on a 37-year-old mother in August 2023.
On Monday, a judge handed down the harshest penalties possible: life without parole, an additional life sentence, and an extra 40 years in prison.
Harford County State Attorney Alison Healey labeled Martinez-Hernandez as ‘wholly unresponsive to treatment or rehabilitation’ while advocating for the most severe punishment available on Monday.
‘If he is released our community is in grave danger … It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,’ she told the court.
The judge agreed, telling Martinez-Hernandez: ‘You are not a candidate for rehabilitation. There is simply no hope to rehabilitate you.
‘You claimed a life that was never yours to claim. Your actions not only violated a young woman but also instilled fear in the community. The Ma & Pa Trail is typically a place of serenity… your actions have transformed it into a site of fear.’
Jurors had heard Morin was on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air when she was dragged into the woods and savagely brutalized.
Harford County State Attorney Alison Healey remarked that Rachel Morin (pictured) ‘fought for her life’ in her last moments. Her murderer received a life sentence on Monday.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, and kidnapping linked to the appalling August 2023 incident involving a 37-year-old mother in Baltimore.
Her body had been stuffed in a tunnel drain. An autopsy revealed Morin died from a combination of strangulation and blunt-force trauma.
Police say Hernandez had been living in the United States illegally since February 2023 – just months before targeting his victim.
He will not be deported to El Salvador, because judges in Maryland only have the power to incarcerate people within the state.
During the sentencing hearing on Monday, the court heard victim impact statements from 10 people including Morin’s siblings, her mother and four of her children, who are aged nine, 12, 15, and 20.
‘She was a good mom,’ her son said, according to WBALTV. ‘Every time I see a picture of her, I think about the life I had with her and my four sisters. I miss her.’
Morin’s eldest daughter, who is now a mother herself, asked the prosecutor to read her written statement to the court.
‘I had to relive the worst two days of my life in order to write this,’ she said, adding that her mother was ‘kind, strong, honest, determined and funny’.
Morin’s mother, Patty Morin, said that she has been suffering with nightmares, insomnia and anxiety attacks since her daughter was murdered.
‘The depths of grief are equivalent to the depths of love felt. This will impact generations to come,’ she said.
Police say Hernandez had been living in the United States illegally since February 2023 – just months before targeting his victim
Rachel Morin’s tragic death inflamed debates about the illegal migrant crisis in the United States
Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler slammed the immigration system which allowed Hernandez to enter the country and remain in the United States despite committing other crimes.
‘The failure here, again, is the immigration system that allowed this person to enter our country illegally and remain in our country and commit crimes in Los Angeles and then here in Harford County,’ Gahler said.
‘We all suspected that Rachel was not his first victim. It is my understanding that this suspect, this monster, fled to the United States illegally after committing the brutal murder of a young woman in El Salvador a month earlier in January of 2023.’
Healey previously said that Morin ‘fought for her life’ during her final moments. ‘She was viciously beaten, raped and ultimately murdered at the hands of the defendant,’ the attorney said.
President Trump also weighed in on the conviction in a Truth Social post at the time, paying tribute to the ‘beautiful mother of five’ who was ‘heinously murdered.’
‘Moments ago, the Illegal Criminal, who was allowed into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden, was convicted of the heinous murder of Rachel Morin,’ he wrote.
‘Rachel was a beautiful mother of five from Maryland, and her life was taken at the hands of a monster who should have NEVER been here in the first place.’
The body of the 37-year-old mom-of-five was discovered in a tunnel along a popular hiking trail in Bel Air, Maryland
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
Trump said Hernandez is ‘actually an MS-13 Gang Member and Foreign Terrorist from El Salvador.
‘We will never forget Rachel Morin, and are committed to protecting women like her across our Country. We will deport Illegal Murderers, Rapists, and Criminals.’
Martinez-Hernandez went on the run after the crime and was ultimately arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 2024 after his DNA was 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 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.
This is a breaking news story with updates to follow.
