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USA Today
16-04-2025
- USA Today
Rachel Morin's mother recounts daughter's death: 'Rips out your heart'
Hear this story The mother of Rachel Morin, the Maryland woman who was fatally attacked on a popular hiking trail in a Baltimore suburb in 2023, was invited to the White House, a day after a Salvadoran man was found guilty in the case that became a flashpoint during the 2024 presidential campaign. Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 24, was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and kidnapping on April 14, according to the Harford County State's Attorney's Office. A Maryland jury deliberated for less than an hour before returning the guilty verdict, CBS Baltimore and The Baltimore Banner reported. Rachel Morin's mother, Patty Morin, was invited as a "special guest" at an April 16 White House briefing. She shared details about her daughter and how she was attacked, noting that the hiking trail had been a "safe place" for their family. "When she went on that trail that day, she was not planning on dying," she said. "She wasn't planning on walking to her death." Authorities accused Martinez-Hernandez of killing Rachel Morin, 37, a mother of five who vanished in August 2023 while walking on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, a town northeast of Baltimore. He was arrested in Oklahoma in June 2024 following a nationwide search. Authorities also accused Martinez-Hernandez of entering the U.S. without authorization in February 2023 after allegedly killing a different woman in his home country of El Salvador. He was then linked to an assault in Los Angeles during a March 2023 home invasion through DNA evidence. "This case shook our Harford County community and robbed a family of their daughter, sister, mother, and friend," Alison Healey, the Harford County State's Attorney, said in a statement. "It is my sincere hope that today's verdict brings some peace and closure to the entire Morin family." Martinez-Hernandez is being held at the Harford County Detention Center without bail, according to online inmate records. The Harford County State's Attorney's Office said it "intends to seek the maximum penalty allowable by law," which includes life without the possibility of parole on the murder charge, a life sentence on the rape charge and additional years on the remaining charges. Kilmar Abrego Garcia case: Judge admonishes U.S. for failing to return Maryland man wrongly deported to El Salvador What happened to Rachel Morin? Rachel Morin's boyfriend reported her missing when she failed to return home from her walk on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail on Aug. 5, 2023, according to authorities. Morin was last seen on the trail at around 6 p.m., and her vehicle was found near the footpath. The next day, Harford County Sheriff's deputies discovered Rachel Morin's body in a wooded area near the trail and said she was a "victim of a violent homicide." Prosecutors alleged that Martinez-Hernandez had planned the attack and was waiting in the woods before attacking Rachel Morin shortly after she entered the trail. Health data on Rachel Morin's cell phone and Apple Watch showed that she was pulled about 150 feet from the main trail into the woods, prosecutors said. Evidence presented during the trial revealed that Martinez-Hernandez concealed Rachel Morin in drainage culverts just off the trail, where she was beaten, raped and killed, according to prosecutors. "(Morin) spent her day as she often did. Spending time with her children and boyfriend, working out at a local gym, running errands, and finally, taking a walk on the Ma & Pa trail," Healey said. "Witnesses testified that her time on the trail was 'her peace,' and she never could have predicted that on that day that she would never see or speak to her children again." Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) said the Harford County Sheriff's Office requested assistance from its Baltimore office on Aug. 17, 2023, and relayed information that a person of interest in the investigation had been involved in a home invasion in Los Angeles. On that same day, authorities announced a DNA connection between Rachel Morin's suspected killer and a man who assaulted a girl and her mother during the home invasion. Prosecutors said DNA evidence that was recovered from parts of Rachel Morin's body also matched the DNA of the suspect. Who is Jocelyn Nungaray? Trump honors 12-year-old girl murdered at Texas bridge Attack leads to 10-month search for suspect Rachel Morin's death shocked the community of Bel Air and sparked a 10-month nationwide search for the suspect. On Sept. 7, 2023, the Harford County Sheriff's Office said in an update that investigators had "collected and watched hours of video footage" from the trail. Authorities later released a finalized sketch of the suspect on Feb. 12, 2024, but a name was not formally released. HSI said the Maryland State Police Crime Lab notified the Harford County Sheriff's Office on June 14, 2024, that it had matched DNA recovered from Martinez-Hernandez's clothing to DNA recovered at the scene of Rachel Morin's murder. Authorities were then able to track Martinez-Hernandez to a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and local police officers arrested him, according to HSI. He was booked into the Tulsa County Criminal Justice Center and later transferred to Maryland. Prosecutors alleged that Martinez-Hernandez claimed he had never been to Maryland. But multiple witnesses and business records said he had been living and working in Bel Air at the time of the murder. Following his arrest in Oklahoma, prosecutors said Martinez-Hernandez's phone was seized and authorities discovered photos and screenshots of Rachel Morin. Patty Morin on her daughter's death: 'Rips out your heart' Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt introduced Patty Morin on April 16 after defending the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an unrelated case in which a Maryland man was wrongly removed from the country in March. "If you're a mother here in the room, can you imagine standing there alive, you're alive, someone comes and puts their hands into your chest and rips out your heart," Patty Morin said of her daughter's death. "That's what it feels like." A month after Martinez-Hernandez's arrest, Rachel Morin's family took the podium at the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin to talk about losing their loved one, one in a series of speakers who shared their personal experiences with crime or substance abuse in the past four years. "Joe Biden and his designated border czar, Kamala Harris, opened our borders to him and others like him, empowering him to victimize the innocent. Yet, to this day, we have not heard from Joe Biden or Kamala Harris," Michael Morin, a brother of Rachel Morin, told the crowd in Milwaukee in July 2024. "But when Rachel was killed, President Trump called my family to offer his condolences." President Donald Trump, who came into office in January, has promised to reform U.S. immigration policy. He met with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele on April 14, a leader praised by the administration for opening his country's prison system to alleged gang members and detainees that Trump wants out of the United States. "I think he's doing a fantastic job, and he's taking care of a lot of problems that we have that we really wouldn't be able to take care of from a cost standpoint," Trump told reporters about Bukele, referring to the cost of imprisoning the detainees in El Salvador. Contributing: Jonathan Limehouse and JJ Hensley, USA TODAY; Reuters (This story was updated to add new information.)
CBS News
31-03-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
Strong storms expected across Maryland this evening
We are tracking the threat of strong to severe thunderstorms late Monday afternoon and evening. A WJZ First Alert Weather Day remains in effect through early tonight as scattered showers and storms develop ahead of an approaching cold front. Storms are expected to begin developing between 3 and 4 p.m. in Western Maryland and will move toward the I-95 corridor before sunset. Any storms that develop could produce damaging wind gusts over 50 mph and hail up to the size of pennies. Frequent lightning and heavy downpours are also possible with the stronger storms. Storms may impact the latter part of the Orioles game at Camden Yards, especially for postgame activities and the commute home. Storms will push toward the Eastern Shore after sunset, with the entire region likely clearing of thunderstorms between 9 and 10 p.m. Overnight, skies will be partly to mostly cloudy with cooler temperatures. Lows will dip into the mid to upper 40s across the region. Tuesday will bring breezy and cooler conditions with highs near 60 degrees under mostly sunny skies. Skies will turn partly to mostly cloudy on Wednesday, with highs again near 60 degrees. Warmer weather makes a brief return Thursday. Expect mostly cloudy skies with highs in the upper 70s and a chance for afternoon showers. A stalled front will linger across the region from Friday into the weekend, oscillating north and south. Temperatures will vary depending on which side of the front you're on. North of the front, highs will remain in the 50s and 60s. South of the front, temperatures may climb into the low 70s. Upper-level disturbances riding along the front will lead to scattered showers and possibly a few thunderstorms at times from Friday into the weekend. The best chance for storms arrives Sunday as the entire system pushes through the region, moving south by Monday morning. Highs on Friday will be near 70 degrees, though areas north of the front will likely stay in the 50s and 60s. Saturday will be cooler with highs only in the low 60s. Temperatures will rebound into the low 70s on Sunday ahead of the front's final push. Cooler, drier air returns Monday into Tuesday. Expect breezy conditions Monday with highs in the upper 50s and an early chance of showers. Tuesday will be windy and much cooler, with gusty northwest winds over 20 mph and highs in the low to mid-50s. Stay tuned on WJZ | CBS Baltimore and streaming at .
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why Trump Might Be to Blame For Nasty Threats Directed at Black Baltimore Bookstore Owner
In 2019, Tia Hamilton founded Urban Reads Bookstore in Baltimore while looking for a place to sell her publication 'State Vs Us Magazine.' She wanted to use her voice to address the harmful reality of mass incarceration and systemic racism. Now, Hamilton has claimed that since Trump has taken office for a second time, she has been receiving racial harassment and intimidation. 'I still haven't really eaten, you know, and I'm barely sleeping…I'm angry, and I'm angry because this is a faceless enemy,' she told CBS Baltimore. Hamilton also stated that she has always received threats. However, they amplified on Feb.20—exactly one month after Donald Trump was sworn into office. Considering that Trump has issued a slew of executive orders rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives on federal and corporate levels, the timing of the harassment does not seem like a coincidence. Hamilton said she spoke out publicly about threats she started receiving on Facebook. However, they simply worsened and spread to other social and email accounts connected to Urban Reads. 'We're really supposed to be coming together but instead their hate runs so deep that they want to hate me,' Hamilton explained. She eventually reached out to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott about what she was experiencing. He referred the matter to Baltimore police. Scott emphasized the importance of showing up for other Black people. 'It wasn't just about supporting a fellow Baltimorean. As a Black man, I always look forward to protecting Black women. We're just not going to stand for it,' he said to the Baltimore Banner. Despite the hate, Hamilton shared that orders at the store have managed to increase. City Councilwoman Odette Ramos has shared that the incident is currently being investigated as a hate crime. Ramos has since forwarded the messages Hamilton received to the Office of State Attorney General's Hate Crimes Hotline. 'When something like this happens, we feel that kind of pride in our city is being tested. We're not going to let it,' Ramos said. The councilwoman also said that folks in the city tend to look out for each other. 'The thing about Baltimore is that we care for our own, absolutely.' For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
