More than 10 months after Rachel Morin was found dead near a hiking trail in Maryland, police say they have arrested an illegal immigrant they believe is a suspect in the murder of the mother of five.
Maryland authorities held a press conference on Saturday and announced that the suspect in Morin’s murder was Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador.
“Five hours after meeting with Rachel’s family, just before midnight, police in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the assistance of federal authorities, located and arrested her murderer, Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez,” said Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler.
Gahler noted that Morin “is probably not the first victim.”
“This suspect murdered a young woman in El Salvador in January 2023 before fleeing to the United States,” Gahler said. “Upon arriving in the United States, he carried out a home invasion in Los Angeles in March 2023 and brutally attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother.”
DNA evidence taken from the scene of the Los Angeles attack in March 2023 linked Martinez Hernandez to the murder of Rachel Morin.
“After entering our country, and likely emboldened by kinship ties, he brutally attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother in their home in Los Angeles in March 2023,” Gahler said. Fox News“And as I’m sure you all know, this was the first DNA match linking Rachel’s case to the Los Angeles case.”
Martinez Hernandez is a 23-year-old from El Salvador who reportedly crossed the southern border into the United States illegally in February 2023.
Special Agent in Charge William Delbaño of the FBI’s Baltimore office explained that investigators were able to trace the suspect’s DNA to family members in El Salvador.
“Americans are not safe because of failed immigration policies.”
Sheriff Gahler pointed to the ongoing border crisis as a factor in the murder of the 37-year-old mother of five.
“We are 1,800 miles from the southern border, and the American people are not safe because of failed immigration policies,” Gahler said.
“This is the second time in the last two years that an innocent woman in Harford County has had her life wrongfully taken by criminals in our country,” he continued. “In both cases, the suspect was a Salvadoran national with ties to organized crime. This should not happen.”
“Victor Hernandez did not come to this country to improve his life or his family’s life, but to escape the crimes he committed in El Salvador. He came to kill Rachel and, God willing, he will not kill anyone else, but this should never have been allowed to happen,” Galar said.
“My hope and the hope of everyone involved in this case is that with the arrest of this suspect, she will be able to pursue her own interests,” Galar said. [Mornin’s] We bring peace to the family and the Harford County community.”
“We hope this arrest brings peace to Rachel Morin’s family and the Harford County community,” Delvagno said.
Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healy has announced that she will lead the prosecution of the case.
“Harford County and the surrounding communities can rest assured that my office will take all necessary steps to ensure justice is achieved for Rachel Morin and her family,” Healy said.
“I’m going to keep this short because I’m very emotional,” said Rachel’s mother, Patricia Morin. “I just want to take this opportunity to thank the police for all their hard work. They really cared about our family and my daughter. They worked so hard and were trying to find whoever killed my daughter.”
Martinez-Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape. He will be extradited to Maryland.
As The Blaze News previously reported, Maureen was reported missing by her boyfriend after she didn’t return home from a run on the Mama & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, on August 5. Her body was found on the trail the next day.
Maureen suffered severe head injuries and it was previously reported that there would be no open-coffin funeral due to the severity of her injuries.
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