Current:Home > NewsPolice arrest man in murder of Maryland mom Rachel Morin -EquityExchange
Police arrest man in murder of Maryland mom Rachel Morin
View
Date:2025-04-15 16:31:51
BALTIMORE -- There has finally been an arrest in the high-profile murder of Rachel Morin, the mother of five who was killed along a popular hiking trail in Harford County Maryland last year.
Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant from El Salvador was arrested on Friday, said Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler on Saturday during a news conference. He is being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape, and Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healy will be the prosecutor on the case, Gahler said.
Rachel Morin was found murdered along the Ma & Pa Trail last August. She went missing after going for a walk along a popular trail in Harford County. Law enforcement believe the suspect hid in a drainage culvert and attacked Morin while she was walking. Authorities were able to link her murder to an assault and home invasion in Los Angeles, California, that took place on March 26.
Her family released a commercial plea in April for justice in the investigation. Finally, there is some closure for them.
"At one point when things seemed really bleak and hopeless, the lead detective said to me -- he said, 'Patience will win in the end.'" Rachel's mother, Patty Morin said.
Martinez Hernandez is a citizen of El Salvador.
Hernandez had illegally crossed the border into the U.S. in February 2023, after murdering another young woman in El Salvador a month earlier in January 2023, Gahler said. Interpol, the international law enforcement agency, had issued a warrant for his arrest for the homicide of the woman that occurred there. Then in March of 2023, investigators say he assaulted a 9-year-old girl and her mother at a home in Los Angeles.
Investigators are checking to see if he's connected to any other crimes.
The suspect has connections in the Washington, D.C. area, in both Virginia and Prince George's County, and ties to known gangs, Gahler said.
"Victor Hernandez did not come here to make a better life for himself or his family," Sheriff Gahler said. "He came here to escape the crime he committed in El Salvador. He came here and murdered Rachel and, God willing, no one else."
The sheriff says a lead involving genetic genealogy led them to their suspect.
"On May 20, on what should've been Rachel's 38 birthday, and in a poetic coincidence or perhaps Rachel's own divine assistance, our investigators uncovered a lead that led us to this day," Sheriff Jeff Gahler said.
Detectives tracked Martinez Hernandez down in Tulsa, Oklahoma and arrested him at a bar there Friday night. Officers say when they approached him, he tried to lie about who he was and the crimes he's accused of.
"Hopefully he'll never have the opportunity to walk free again," Sheriff Gahler said.
Meanwhile, Harford County community members, especially those who use the Ma and Pa trail, tell WJZ they feel safer with him in custody.
"It's just a relief and God bless that family," Pat Balducci of Bel Air said. "So, I'm glad for them."
Harford County deputies are working to extradite Martinez Hernandez back here to Maryland, which could take 30 to 60 days.
Emily Hung contributed to this report.
- In:
- Maryland
- Murder
- Crime
veryGood! (6892)
Related
- Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
- Alix Earle Makes Quick Outfit Change in the Back of an Uber for New York Fashion Week Events
- Danelo Cavalcante escape timeline: Everything that's happened since fugitive fled Pennsylvania prison
- AP Week in Pictures: North America
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Judge rejects Connecticut troopers’ union request bar release of names in fake ticket probe, for now
- Why Mark-Paul Gosselaar Regrets This Problematic Saved by the Bell Scene
- Judge rejects Connecticut troopers’ union request bar release of names in fake ticket probe, for now
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- Asian Games set to go in China with more athletes than the Olympics but the same political intrigue
Ranking
- Selena Gomez engaged to Benny Blanco after 1 year together: 'Forever begins now'
- The Photo of the Year; plus, whose RICO is it anyway?
- 'One of the best summers': MLB players recall sizzle, not scandal, from McGwire-Sosa chase
- Apple, drugs, Grindr
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- UK police call in bomb squad to check ‘suspicious vehicle’ near Channel Tunnel
- Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis accuses Jim Jordan of unjustified and illegal intrusion in Trump case
- Death of Indianapolis murder convict at Indiana prison investigated as homicide, police say
Recommendation
California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Massachusetts investigates teen’s death as company pulls spicy One Chip Challenge from store shelves
King Charles honors mother Queen Elizabeth II's legacy on 1st anniversary of her death
UN goal of achieving gender equality by 2030 is impossible because of biases against women, UN says
Why we love Bear Pond Books, a ski town bookstore with a French bulldog 'Staff Pup'
Horoscopes Today, September 7, 2023
Chiefs star Chris Jones watches opener vs. Lions in suite amid contract holdout
Kroger to pay $1.2 billion in opioid settlement with states, cities