Illegal immigrant arrested for rape and murder of Maryland mother

Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler speaks during a press conference on June 15. (Photo: Screenshot from WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore)

An illegal immigrant from El Salvador was arrested for the rape and murder of a Maryland mother of five.

According to Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, 23-year-old Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez illegally crossed the southern U.S. border in February 2023. Six months later, in August 2023, Hernandez is suspected of attacking, raping and killing Rachel Morin while she was exercising on the MA & PA Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore.

“We are 1,800 miles from the southern border and American citizens are not safe because of failed immigration policies,” Gahler said during a press conference on Saturday, addressing those remarks specifically to “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and every member of both houses of Congress.”

“This is the second time in just two years that an innocent Harford County woman has lost her life illegally at the hands of a criminal in our country,” the sheriff said.

On August 5 last year, Morin’s boyfriend reported her missing after she failed to return home from a walk. Her body was found in a sewer off the hiking trail on August 6.

An investigation was launched that garnered national attention and involved local, state and federal authorities. A breakthrough in the case came about three weeks ago, on Morin’s 38th birthday, when DNA evidence led to the identification of Hernandez in the case.

In March of last year, Hernandez is also suspected of attacking a “9-year-old girl and her mother during a burglary in Los Angeles,” Gahler said during the press conference. According to the sheriff, the Salvadoran has ties to “known gangs” and is also wanted in his home district for the murder of a woman.

“Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better life for himself or his family. He came here to escape a crime he committed in El Salvador. He came here and murdered Rachel and, God willing, no one else.”

Authorities arrested Hernandez Friday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“Rachel’s killer is no longer a free man and will hopefully never have the opportunity to walk free again,” Gahler said, later noting that the extradition process from Tulsa to Harford County is underway but could take several weeks.

Morin’s five children are “without their mother because Joe Biden refuses to secure the border and keep this murderer out of our country,” Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida said in a post on X on Saturday.

“The Biden administration owes justice to the family of Rachel Morin and so many other families across our country for allowing violent immigrant crime to run rampant in our communities,” Republican Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland said Saturday night on X.

Patricia Morin, Morin’s mother, gave a brief speech during the press conference thanking authorities for tracking down and arresting the suspect in her daughter’s murder.

“I’m so grateful that they brought us to this place,” said Patricia Morin, “because at some points I thought it would never end,” she said before turning around and applauding the officers.

Gahler said Hernandez would not be deported until he faces charges for his alleged crimes in the United States, adding: “God willing, he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.”