Salvadoran fugitive sentenced to life in woman's killing on a Maryland hiking trail
Victor Martinez-Hernandez, 24, was found guilty of first-degree murder and first-degree rape, among other offenses, following a jury trial earlier this year. Prosecutors alleged he was carrying out a planned attack when he grabbed Rachel Morin off the trail, bashed her head against nearby rocks, raped her and concealed her body in a drainage culvert. .
During a hearing Monday in Maryland state court, Harford County Circuit Court Judge Yolanda Curtin sentenced Martinez-Hernandez to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to Randolph Rice, an attorney representing Morin's relatives. The judge also imposed an additional life sentence, plus 40 years.
'While no sentence can bring Rachel back, the Morin family takes comfort in knowing justice has been done,' Rice said in a statement.
Martinez-Hernandez was accused of entering the United States illegally after allegedly killing another woman in his home country. Authorities said he was also linked to a 2023 home invasion in Los Angeles.
Prosecutors used DNA evidence to connect him to the deadly attack on Morin in August 2023. Detectives collected DNA from several places on Morin's body and matched it to Martinez-Hernandez. He was arrested last summer in Oklahoma but had been living in Bel Air, Maryland, around the time of Morin's death, prosecutors said.
The attack sent shock waves through Bel Air, a suburban community northeast of Baltimore. It also became a flashpoint in the 2024 presidential election campaign as Donald Trump called for increased border security and mass deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally.
Morin, 37, left behind five children. A fitness enthusiast, she would often exercise on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail, which follows parts of an old railroad line that ran between Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Several of her family members spoke during Monday's hearing about how their lives have been impacted by her death.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News24
14 minutes ago
- News24
Man arrested after girlfriend's decomposing body found in his Limpopo home
A 33-year-old man was arrested in Seshego, Limpopo in connection with the murder of his girlfriend, after her decomposing body was found in his home on Tuesday night. 'Police were called to the scene at about 23:35, where they found the lifeless body of a 26-year-old woman inside the suspect's residence. The victim had sustained multiple injuries. Preliminary investigations suggest that she may have been killed several days earlier, as her body was already in an early stage of decomposition,' said police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba. The man is expected to appear in the Seshego Magistrate's Court on Friday on a murder charge. Provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe, said the murder was 'deeply disturbing and senseless'. 'We urge communities to report any signs of domestic violence before they escalate to such tragic outcomes,' he added.
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
DC homeless camps cleared out in Trump takeover as Bondi replaces police commissioner with DEA chief
Homeless camps in Washington, D.C., have been cleared in President Donald Trump's crime-fighting takeover as Attorney General Pam Bondi replaced the city's police commissioner with the Drug Enforcement Administration chief. Trump announced Monday he was placing the D.C. police department under direct federal control and deploying the National Guard to 'rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse,' despite violent crime declining in recent years. Mayor Muriel Bowser has criticized the federal takeover, calling the move 'unsettling and unprecedented,' and even 'authoritarian.' Troops started hitting the streets of Washington Tuesday evening, and by Thursday, all 800 soldiers that had been deployed were mobilized, The New York Times reported, citing the Pentagon. Also on Thursday, Bondi named DEA head Terry Cole as D.C.'s 'emergency police commissioner.' With Cole in this role, local police must get his approval before issuing any orders. Some of D.C.'s homeless population started to pack up their belongings Thursday as they braced for encampment sweeps. An earth mover was seen scooping away the remains of encampments near the Institute of Peace building, the Associated Press reported. Members of the city's Health and Human Services department began clearing an encampment near the Kennedy Center Thursday morning, perThe Washington Post. 'I'd like to invite the president to spend some time here in a tent with us,' William Wilson, 66, told the publication, adding, 'We're nice people.' On Sunday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY.' "We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don't have to move out. We're going to put you in jail where you belong,' he said. Roughly 70 homeless encampments in D.C. have been removed since March, according to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Homelessness has decreased by 9 percent since 2024, according to a May press release from Bowser. While outreach workers have helped the homeless population pack up their belongings, issues are being raised about what happens next for these people. Amber Harding, executive director of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, told The Washington Post, 'Shelters have a two-bag maximum, so people might not want to go to a shelter if they don't want to throw away their stuff that can't fit into two bags.' Harding also pointed to the location of the government shelters as another issue, since they are not downtown. 'That means people will have to be transported there, which means moving away from where they are currently staying, from the people they know and the places where they are currently getting services,' she said.
CBS News
44 minutes ago
- CBS News
Yucaipa baby reported missing, deputies ask for help finding him
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department asked for help finding a missing baby from Yucaipa. Deputies said the 7-month-old boy was reported missing on Thursday at 7:45 p.m. Investigators said he was last seen wearing a black Nike onesie. He weighs about 21 pounds, is 24 inches tall, has brown hair, brown eyes and is cross-eyed. Deputies urged anyone with information to call 911 or Sheriff's Dispatch at (909) 387-8313.
