Migrant sentenced to life for murdering Maryland mum

An unlawful immigrant from El Salvador has been sentenced to life with out parole for killing an American mom of 5 – in a case invoked by President Donald Trump to help his border safety crackdown.

Victor Martinez-Hernandez, 24, was discovered responsible this yr within the rape and homicide of Rachel Morin, 37, on a mountain climbing path in Bel Air, Maryland, in August 2023.

He assaulted her, bludgeoned her head with rocks and strangled her earlier than hiding her physique in a drainage culvert, the courtroom heard.

The killer was additionally linked to a 2023 dwelling invasion in Los Angeles and is needed in El Salvador for the homicide of one other lady, in accordance with prosecutors.

He confirmed little emotion as he discovered his destiny on Monday.

Decide Yolanda Curtin sentenced him to life for the first-degree homicide conviction, life for the rape cost, and a further 40 years for a third-degree intercourse offence and kidnapping. He’ll serve your complete sentence in a Maryland jail.

He was arrested in June 2024 after a 10-month manhunt in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

“Arguably, Harford County has by no means seen a case or a defendant extra deserving of each single day of the utmost sentences this courtroom imposed,” prosecutor Alison Healey stated outdoors the courthouse.

In a victim-impact assertion earlier than the sentence was handed down, the sufferer’s mom, Patty Morin, stated: “The brutality of her homicide will hang-out us for the remainder of our lives.”

Voice recordings of Ms Morin’s kids, ranging in age from 9 to fifteen, had been performed for the courtroom.

In a message addressed to their mom, one of many kids stated: “Now I’ve to spend extra time with out you than I did with you.”

Rachel’s older brother, Michael Morin, informed the courtroom his Christian religion compelled him to supply the killer forgiveness.

In keeping with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the killer illegally entered the US and was despatched again throughout the US-Mexico border 3 times in 2023.

Throughout final yr’s White Home election marketing campaign, Trump held up Ms Morin’s killing and different so-called angel households – these with family members who’ve been killed by unlawful immigrants – as he pledged to shut the US-Mexico border.

Most research point out undocumented immigrants aren’t extra more likely to interact in criminality than Americans.

The Morin household has supported Trump’s marketing campaign for border safety.

Michael Morin addressed the Republican Nationwide Conference final summer time in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“Open borders are sometimes portrayed as compassionate and virtuous, however there may be nothing compassionate about permitting violent criminals into our nation and robbing kids of their mom,” he stated.

In April, amid an escalating showdown between the president and the judiciary on immigration, the White Home invited Ms Morin’s mom to handle a media briefing.

Patty Morin shared graphic particulars of her daughter’s demise.