The suspected killer of Rachel Morin faces life in prison without parole, the maximum sentence in Maryland, if convicted of murder, Harford County prosecutors said in a court notice.
Suspect Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, 23, faces six charges in connection with Morin’s death, including first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping, and authorities have described him as a possible serial killer after allegedly committing a series of crimes against women in Central America and the United States.
He is an illegal immigrant and is suspected of not only Morin’s murder, but also two sexual assaults in California and the brutal murder of another woman in his native El Salvador.
Morin was a 37-year-old mother of five who had gone for a jog on a trail near her home in Bel Air, Maryland, about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore. She never returned. Police found her body in a culvert, covered in bruises and with severe head trauma.
Rachel Morin murder: Salvadoran illegal immigrant charged with rape, murder of Maryland mother of five
Rachel Morin was dragged off a hiking trail on August 5, 2023 and brutally murdered. (Handouts for families)
State law requires prosecutors to notify defendants if they plan to seek the maximum sentence, and if no such notice was filed and Martinez-Hernandez was convicted, he would be eligible for parole after just 25 years.
This will ensure that the suspect responsible for Rachel’s tragic death will never have the opportunity to hurt anyone again.
Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, 23, arrived in Maryland and was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape in the death of Rachel Morin on the Mama & Papa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/Getty Images)
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“The Morin family is relieved and pleased that the state is seeking a life sentence for the defendant,” said the Morin family’s attorney, Randolph Rice. “This ensures that the suspect responsible for Rachel’s tragic death will never have the opportunity to harm anyone else again. We appreciate the state’s commitment to achieving justice for Rachel and ensuring public safety.”
Rachel Morin in an undated selfie. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
The suspects are believed to be gang members with a history of violence in several countries.
Martinez Hernandez is suspected of the brutal murder of another woman in El Salvador in January 2023.
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He fled the country and entered the U.S. illegally in February 2023, authorities said.
Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, was arrested for the murder of Rachel Morin. He is also accused of killing another woman in El Salvador and assaulting a mother and her 9-year-old daughter in Los Angeles. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
The following month, a woman and her 9-year-old daughter were robbed in Los Angeles.
By August, he had traveled to Maryland, where he allegedly attacked and brutalized Morin before abandoning her in a ditch.
The Harford County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland released this photo of Morin after she was reported missing last August. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
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DNA taken from the Los Angeles incident was later matched to Morin’s.
He lay low for 10 months before being arrested by police in a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Martinez-Hernandez is being held without bail.
