The illegal immigrant convicted of kidnapping, raping, and murdering 37-year-old Rachel Morin has been sentenced to life in prison.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty in April. The court gave him the maximum sentence for each count, including life without parole for first-degree murder, life for first-degree rape, and 40 years for a sex offense, CBS News reported.
Morin, a mother of five children from Bel Air, Maryland, was viciously murdered on August 5, 2023, while she was jogging on the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail. Her body was discovered the next day in a drainage culvert. Martinez-Hernandez beat her to death with a rock after sexually assaulting her.
The authorities identified the suspect after finding DNA on Morin’s body, clothing, and electronic devices. The investigation showed that the victim was likely strangled and struck in the head.
Law enforcement arrested 24-year-old Martinez-Hernandez through DNA evidence and information that his family provided. He had illegally entered the US in 2023 after having been deported three times.
The defendant had been linked to a series of crimes, including a murder in El Salvador in 2022 and an assault on a mother and child in Los Angeles in March 2023. He fled Maryland after murdering Morin. However, the authorities found him in Tulsa, Oklahoma in June 2024 after his cell phone pinged near a sports bar in the city.
BREAKING: Illegal alien Victor Martinez-Hernandez sentenced to life without parole for murder of Maryland mother Rachel Morin pic.twitter.com/GH13K1hTV5
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) August 11, 2025
Martinez-Hernandez’s trial began on April 1, 2025. The prosecution presented over 500 pieces of evidence tying the defendant to the crime. This included DNA, witness testimonies, and photos of the crime scene.
Prosecutors noted that the defendant’s DNA was the only male profile found on Morin’s body. They also presented evidence of his online searches, which included child pornography and violent content.
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Martinez-Hernandez’s defense attorneys argued for a life sentence with the possibility of parole, referring to his harsh upbringing in El Salvador and lack of a criminal record in the US. They claimed he had been fleeing gang violence to provide for his family.
Still, the jury convicted the defendant after deliberating for less than an hour.
Morin’s murder was one of several that figured into the national debate over immigration during the 2024 campaign. Morin and nursing student Laken Riley became prominent in the campaign, with President Donald Trump highlighting the severity of former President Joe Biden’s lax border policies.
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler slammed Biden’s border policies, saying that they led to Morin’s death. "It shouldn't be political, but the failure here 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 here in Harford County," he said, according to CBS News.
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