A 24-year-old undocumented migrant from El Salvador has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the brutal 2023 rape and murder of Rachel Morin, a mother of five, on a hiking trail in Bel Air, Maryland. The case drew national attention and was cited by former President Donald Trump in calls for stricter border security.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was convicted earlier this year of sexually assaulting and killing 37-year-old Morin, whose body was discovered hidden in a drainage culvert.
Prosecutors described how he struck her with rocks, strangled her, and attempted to conceal the crime.
In addition to the murder conviction, Martinez-Hernandez received a second life sentence for rape, plus 40 years for third-degree sexual offense and kidnapping. He will serve his sentence in a Maryland prison.
Authorities also linked Martinez-Hernandez to a 2023 home invasion in Los Angeles and noted that he is wanted in El Salvador in connection with another homicide.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that he had entered the U.S. illegally multiple times in 2023 and had been deported three times before evading capture.
He was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 2024 after a 10-month manhunt.
Harford County Judge Yolanda Curtin handed down the sentence on August 11, 2025, as the courtroom heard emotional testimony from Morin’s family.
Her mother, Patty Morin, described the enduring trauma of her daughter’s death. Voice recordings from Morin’s children, aged 9 to 15, were also played in court, including one child’s message: “Now I have to spend more time without you than I did with you.”
Outside the courthouse, lead prosecutor Alison Healey called the crime one of the worst the county had seen: “Harford County has never seen a case or a defendant more deserving of every single day of the maximum sentences this court imposed.”
Rachel Morin’s family has been vocal in supporting Trump’s stance on immigration and border control. Her brother, Michael Morin, a devout Christian, told the court he forgave the killer, but emphasized the need for justice.
He later spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention, criticizing U.S. immigration policies: “Open borders are often portrayed as compassionate and virtuous, but there is nothing compassionate about allowing violent criminals into our country and robbing children of their mother.”
In April 2025, Rachel’s mother, Patty Morin, was invited to speak at a White House press briefing, where she shared graphic details of the murder, further amplifying the political debate over immigration enforcement.
Although the case has been used to support calls for stricter immigration measures, multiple studies have shown that undocumented immigrants are not more likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens.
