An illegal immigrant was indicted this week on charges of the brutal rape and murder of Rachel Morin, in a move the victim’s family’s lawyer called a “significant step.”
A Maryland grand jury voted to formally indict Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, on two counts of murder, two counts of rape and one count each of sexual assault and kidnapping for the brutal 2023 attack on the mother of five.
“The indictment marks an important step in our pursuit of justice for Rachel Morin and her family,” attorney Randolph Rice said in a statement. “This marks an important step toward achieving justice for Rachel Morin and holding the defendant accountable for this heinous crime.”
Martinez-Hernandez was arrested last month at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following a nationwide manhunt for the Salvadoran native, who is being held without bail.
Authorities said Martinez Hernandez, who has suspected gang ties, fled his home country after an arrest warrant was issued there in February 2023 for the murder of a woman.
Authorities said the man had tried unsuccessfully to enter the U.S. three times before crossing the border near El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 13, 2023.
The man is accused of breaking into a Los Angeles home in March and assaulting a 9-year-old girl and her mother before attacking Morin on Aug. 5 at Mama & Papa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, according to prosecutors and police.
He is accused of dragging her off the street, brutally beating her, leaving more than 10 cuts on her head, and then strangling her to death.
Her body was found covered in bruises in a drainage tunnel.
Her mother, Patty Morin, of Harford County, said she was grieving her daughter’s final moments.
“I’m sure she knew she wasn’t going to survive,” she previously told Fox News Digital. “I’m sure she was thinking about her children and I’m sure she was thinking about all that she was going to lose, and that this was going to be the end of her life. I’m sure she felt very helpless.”
Martinez-Hernandez is scheduled to return to Harford County Circuit Court on July 22. His court-appointed attorney, Marcus Jenkins, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
