A jury convicted a fugitive from El Salvador for the rape and murder of a Maryland woman, putting to rest a criminal case that attracted national media attention and became a major talking point in the 2024 presidential campaign.
Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a 24-year-old illegal migrant, was convicted Monday evening of first degree murder, first degree rape, third degree sexual offense and kidnapping by a Maryland jury for the death of Rachel Morin, the Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office confirmed in a press release. Martinez had unlawfully entered the United States multiple times before the murder and was wanted in his home country for the murder of another woman.
President Donald Trump, who highlighted Morin’s killing during his 2024 campaign for re-election and accompanied her family to numerous campaign events, celebrated the guilty verdict Monday evening.
“Moments ago, the Illegal Criminal, who was allowed into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden, was convicted of the heinous murder of Rachel Morin,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “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.”
“We will never forget Rachel Morin, and are committed to protecting women like her across our Country,” Trump continued. “We will deport Illegal Murderers, Rapists, and Criminals.”
Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five children, was “viciously” beaten, raped and murdered along a hiking trail on August 5, 2023, prosecutors said. While taking a walk on the Ma & Pa Trail in Harford County, Maryland, Morin was attacked by Martinez-Hernandez, who pulled her roughly 150 feet away from the main trail, according to data on her phone and Apple Watch.
Law enforcement authorities in Oklahoma finally nabbed Martinez-Hernandez in June 2024 and charged him for Morin’s death. Investigators were able to link the Salvadoran national to DNA discovered at the crime scene. At the time of his arrest, he claimed to have never lived in Maryland, but prosecutors produced multiple witnesses and business records proving he was living in Bel Air, Maryland, at the time of the murder.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) previously confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that Martinez-Hernandez had illegally entered the U.S. on multiple occasions in 2023. Border Patrol agents apprehended him on Jan. 19, Jan. 31 and Feb. 6 of that year, expelling him back to Mexico each time.
He subsequently unlawfully entered the U.S. in February 2023 without detection by Border authorities, according to ICE.
Following Martinez-Hernandez’s arrest, her mother, Patty Morin, became a vocal supporter of Trump’s campaign. Her family said they were “deeply touched” by Trump’s outreach and attended the 2024 Republican National Convention.
The president has consistently highlighted angel families, people whose family members were killed by illegal migrants. The Trump administration earlier in April relaunched the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office, an office dedicated to helping angel family members that was shuttered by the Biden administration.
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