Undocumented immigrant Victor Martinez-Hernandez has been jailed for life for raping and murdering mother-of-five Rachel Morin, 37, in Bel Air, Maryland on August 5, 2023

Martinez-Hernandez, 24, from El Salvador was convicted in April of first degree murder, first degree rape and kidnapping of the Harford County mother-of-five

On Monday he was handed the maximum, two life sentences without the possibility of parole, with an additional 40 years in prison

Martinez who had been staying with relatives in Baltimore skipped town in May 2024, was traced and arrested in Oklahoma after 10 months on the run

Cops used DNA profiling to match him with relatives in Baltimore, DNA on clothing items he left behind matched traces found at the crime scene

Harford County authorities said the suspect fled to US illegally, after brutally murdering a young woman in El Salvador a month earlier in January of 2023′

Harford County State Attorney Alison Healey said that Rachel Morin [photo], ‘fought for her life’ in her final moments against a monster who kidnapped, raped, then killed her in Bel Air, Harford County, MD. She was reported on August 5, 2023

Undocumented immigrant Victor Martinez-Hernandez has been jailed for life for raping and murdering mother-of-five Rachel Morin Harford County, Maryland.
In April, the Harford County court found the 24-year-old El Salvador native guilty of first degree murder, first degree rape and kidnapping for the horrific August 5, 2023, attack on the 37-year-old Harford County resident.
The Victim’s boyfriend reported her missing on August 5, 2023, when she did not return from a walk on a popular hiking trail in Bel Air.
The search party found her car in the parking lot, before her body was found stuffed in a drain in the nearby woods, showing signs of assault.

Convicted of kidnapping, raping and murdering Rachel Morin, Victor Martinez-Hernandez [photo], an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador on Monday was handed two life sentences without the possibility of parole, with an additional 40 years in prison

It took investigators 10 months to arrest the man accused and ultimately convicted of her rape and murder, after police tracked down to Oklahoma.
A judge on Monday sentenced him to the maximum sentence, life without the possibility of parole, another life sentence, and an additional 40 years in prison.
Harford County State Attorney Alison Healey described Martinez-Hernandez as ‘completely and entirely unnameable to treatment or rehabilitation’ as she requested the harshest possible sentence 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.

Martinez was arrested after cops used DNA tracing to match him with relatives he had been staying with in Baltimore starting for a few months before skipping town in May 2024. Collecting items he left behind, they matched DNA traces found at the crime scene. He was tracked down to Oklahoma and arrested after 10 months

The judge agreed, telling Martinez-Hernandez: ‘You are not a candidate for rehabilitation. There is simply no hope to rehabilitate you.
‘You took a life that was not yours to take. Your acts not only brutalized a young woman but also terrorized a community. The Ma & Pa Trail is a place of beauty … your acts turned that into a place of terror.’
Jurors had heard Morin was on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air when she was dragged into the woods and savagely brutalized by then 22-year-old Martinez-Hernandez who was in the country illegally.

Morin’s body had been stuffed in a tunnel drain along a hiking trail in Bel Air, MD. An autopsy revealed she died from a combination of strangulation and blunt-force trauma. The suspect however, left DNA traces which ultimately led to his arrest

Hernandez [photo], had been living in the United States illegally since February 2023 – just months before targeting his victim, police said. Cops said he’d fled to US illegally after the brutal murder of a young woman in El Salvador in Jan 2023

DNA from Rachel Morin’s body linked this figure caught on doorbell footage from a LA home invasion where a young girl was attacked

Rachel Morin’s body had been stuffed in a tunnel drain along a popular hiking trail in Bel Air. An autopsy revealed she 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.
Among the 10 victim statement heard during the sentencing hearing on Monday, Morin’s siblings, her mother and four of her children, who are aged nine, 12, 15, and 20 recounted how her brutal murder has affected their lives.
‘She was a good mom,’ her son said. ‘Every time I see a picture of her, I think about the life I had with her and my four sisters. I miss her.’

Before sentence was handed down Monday, the court heard victim impact statements from 10 people including the mother of Rachel Morin’ [photo],her siblings and four of her five children, aged 9, 12, 15, and 20

Morin’s eldest daughter, now a mother herself, in her written statement, read by the prosecutor said: ‘I had to relive the worst two days of my life in order to write this,’ adding, ‘my mother was kind, strong, honest, determined and funny’.
I have been suffering with nightmares, insomnia and anxiety attacks since my daughter was murdered, the victim’s mother told the court.
‘The depths of grief are equivalent to the depths of love felt. This will impact generations to come,’ Patty Morin said.
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.’

According to President Donald Trump seen [photo], meeting with Rachel’s mother Patty Morin in the Oval Office, Hernandez is ‘actually an MS-13 Gang Member and Foreign Terrorist from El Salvador ……who should have NEVER been here in the first place’

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.
Morin’s death shocked America – and Trump highlighted the despicable actions of Martinez-Hernandez during his successful presidential re-election campaign in 2024. The victim’s mother, Patty Morin, has since met with Trump in the Oval Office.
Following sentencing Monday, Trump 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.’
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.

For Pat Morin her daughter’s killer would not have been here and Rachel’s death could have been prevented.Tighter border security could have picked up an outstanding warrant for the suspect in relation to earlier crimes

The case of Rachel Morin has fanned debates about illegal immigrants after details of the suspect’s criminal history emerged.
Patty Morin, last month criticized the immigration policies of the last administration. when she appeared before Congress.
Addressing the House Committee on Homeland Security during a hearing titled, ‘A Country Without Borders: How the Biden-Harris Open-Borders Policies Have Undermined Our Safety and Security,’ She
told members, ‘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.’