Illegal migrant Victor Martinez-Hernandez has been jailed for life for raping and murdering mother-of-five Rachel Morin in Baltimore.
The El Salvador native was found guilty in April of first degree murder, first degree rape and kidnapping for the horrific August 2023 attack on the 37-year-old mother.
A judge sentenced him to the maximum sentence, life without the possibility of parole, another life sentence, and an additional 40 years in prison on Monday.
Harford County State Attorney Alison Healey described Martinez-Hernandez as ‘completely and entirely unamenable to treatment or rehabilitation’ as she requested the harshest possible sentence on Monday.
‘If he is released our community is in grave danger … It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,’ she told the court.
The judge agreed, telling Martinez-Hernandez: ‘You are not a candidate for rehabilitation. There is simply no hope to rehabilitate you.
‘You took a life that was not yours to take. Your acts not only brutalized a young woman but also terrorized a community. The Ma & Pa Trail is a place of beauty … your acts turned that into a place of terror.’
Morin’s death shocked America – and Trump highlighted the despicable actions of Martinez-Hernandez during his successful presidential re-election campaign last year. Morin’s mother, Patty, has since met with Trump in the Oval Office.
Harford County State Attorney Alison Healey said that Rachel Morin (pictured) ‘fought for her life’ in her final moments. Her killer was sentenced to life in jail on Monday
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of first degree murder, first degree rape and kidnapping for the horrific August 2023 attack on the 37-year-old mother in Baltimore
President Donald Trump meets with Patty Morin, the mother of Rachel Morin, in the Oval Office, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. Trump highlighted Rachel’s case during his successful campaign for re-election last year
Jurors had heard Morin was on the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air when she was dragged into the woods and savagely brutalized.
Her body had been stuffed in a tunnel drain. An autopsy revealed Morin died from a combination of strangulation and blunt-force trauma.
Police say Hernandez had been living in the United States illegally since February 2023 – just months before targeting his victim.
He will not be deported to El Salvador, because judges in Maryland only have the power to incarcerate people within the state.
During the sentencing hearing on Monday, the court heard victim impact statements from 10 people including Morin’s siblings, her mother and four of her children, who are aged nine, 12, 15, and 20.
‘She was a good mom,’ her son said, according to WBALTV. ‘Every time I see a picture of her, I think about the life I had with her and my four sisters. I miss her.’
Morin’s eldest daughter, who is now a mother herself, asked the prosecutor to read her written statement to the court.
‘I had to relive the worst two days of my life in order to write this,’ she said, adding that her mother was ‘kind, strong, honest, determined and funny’.
Morin’s mother, Patty Morin, said that she has been suffering with nightmares, insomnia and anxiety attacks since her daughter was murdered.
‘The depths of grief are equivalent to the depths of love felt. This will impact generations to come,’ she said.
Police say Hernandez had been living in the United States illegally since February 2023 – just months before targeting his victim
Rachel Morin’s tragic death inflamed debates about the illegal migrant crisis in the United States
Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler slammed the immigration system which allowed Hernandez to enter the country and remain in the United States despite committing other crimes.
‘The failure here, again, is the immigration system that allowed this person to enter our country illegally and remain in our country and commit crimes in Los Angeles and then here in Harford County,’ Gahler said.
‘We all suspected that Rachel was not his first victim. It is my understanding that this suspect, this monster, fled to the United States illegally after committing the brutal murder of a young woman in El Salvador a month earlier in January of 2023.’
Healey previously said that Morin ‘fought for her life’ during her final moments. ‘She was viciously beaten, raped and ultimately murdered at the hands of the defendant,’ the attorney said.
President Trump also weighed in on the conviction in a Truth Social post at the time, paying tribute to the ‘beautiful mother of five’ who was ‘heinously murdered.’
‘Moments ago, the Illegal Criminal, who was allowed into our Country by Crooked Joe Biden, was convicted of the heinous murder of Rachel Morin,’ he wrote.
‘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.’
The body of the 37-year-old mom-of-five was discovered in a tunnel along a popular hiking trail in Bel Air, Maryland
Morin’s mom Patty Morin said that her daughter’s death could have been prevented if there was tighter security at the border which could have picked up an outstanding warrant for the suspect in relation to another crime
Trump said Hernandez is ‘actually an MS-13 Gang Member and Foreign Terrorist from El Salvador.
‘We will never forget Rachel Morin, and are committed to protecting women like her across our Country. We will deport Illegal Murderers, Rapists, and Criminals.’
Martinez-Hernandez went on the run after the crime and was ultimately arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June 2024 after his DNA was found at the scene.
A search of his phone showed he had searched for the terms ‘Bel Air,’ ‘Rachel’ and an incorrect spelling of her surname after the murder, the court was told.
Morin’s murder inflamed debates about illegal immigrants after details of his previous alleged crimes emerged.
Morin’s mother, Patty Morin, last month criticized the immigration policies of the Biden-Harris administration.
She shared heartbreaking testimony in congress during a hearing titled, ‘A Country Without Borders: How the Biden-Harris Open-Borders Policies Have Undermined Our Safety and Security.’
‘If they had done the border protocols that were in place but was set aside, just a simple DNA swab, they would know that he had a INTERPOL warrant for murder in his home country,’ Morin said to the House Committee on Homeland Security.
