Harford County, Maryland, prosecutors say the rape and murder of 37-year-old Rachel Morin, a mother of five children, allegedly at the hands of an illegal alien “got-away,” is the most horrific case ever seen in the county’s history.
On August 5, 2023, Morin was last seen heading out for a walk at the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, in Harford County. When Morin did not return home, her boyfriend, Richard Tobin, reported her missing. The following day, her body was found on the side of the trail.
On June 15, 2024, the Tulsa Police Department announced that they had arrested 23-year-old Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, an illegal alien from El Salvador with ties to the MS-13 Gang, in connection with Morin’s rape and murder as well as a violent assault of a nine-year-old girl and her mother in Los Angeles, California.
Harford County prosecutors have since detailed a brutal rape and vicious murder where Morin was found with ten to 15 head wounds. They allege that Martinez Hernandez raped and strangled Morin to death.
Martinez Hernandez is among roughly two million known illegal alien got-aways who have successfully crossed the southern border on President Joe Biden’s watch, undetected by Border Patrol agents.
“Biden’s first day in office was to remove every executive order that Trump had put in place to secure our border,” Morin’s half-sister, Erin Morin Layman, told Fox News. “[Biden] stopped building the wall. As far as I’m concerned, the Biden administration has the blood of Rachel Morin on their hands.”
“It’s sickening because this could have all been prevented,” Layman continued. “How many more like this? It’s just really sad, and no one’s safe. It’s not the first story, and it won’t be the last.”
On three occasions in 2023, Border Patrol agents apprehended Martinez Hernandez — twice in January in New Mexico and Texas as well as once in February in New Mexico. On each occasion, he was returned to Mexico.
Sometime after he was last returned to Mexico, Martinez Hernandez crossed the border and made his way to California, where he allegedly assaulted a woman and her child. He later traveled to Maryland, where he was accused of raping and murdering Morin.
Before crossing the border, Martinez Hernandez was accused of having murdered a woman in his native El Salvador after leaving a bar with the victim. The woman’s body was discovered days later.
Days after Martinez Hernandez’s arrest, former President Donald Trump called Morin’s family to offer his condolences. Layman said the phone call lasted about a half hour.
“[Trump] was just really heartfelt and sincere,” Layman said:
That, we’re very appreciative of. To hear her name mentioned in his rallies…if Rachel’s story can help make a change, to change people’s hearts to want to secure our border and keep our country safe, I think she would be honored by that. We just pray that this crime stops…people coming in who are associated with gangs, sex and human trafficking, drugs…there’s just so much in this, and it has to come to a stop. [Emphasis added]
Layman said the “hardest thing” since Morin’s murder was taking her sister’s two youngest children to her gravesite on Mother’s Day.
“No eight and ten-year-old should have to visit their mother’s gravesite on Mother’s Day,” she said.
Martinez Hernandez is being held at the Harford County Detention Center without bail. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has placed a detainer on him, requesting custody if he is released from jail at any time.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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