Rachel Morin's alleged killer arrives in Maryland

BEL AIR, Md. (WBFF) — The suspect in the brutal murder of Rachel Morin was extradited to Maryland Thursday and arrived at Martin State Airport.

The Harford County mother of five was found dead along the Ma and Pa Trail last August.

Police announced the arrest of 23-year-old Victor Antonio Martinez Hernández on Saturday. Police said DNA evidence linked him to Morin's mother.

READ HERE | Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler calls for immigration policy change

Police say he is a Salvadoran citizen who crossed the border illegally in February last year after allegedly murdering a woman there a month before.

In March 2023, police say he brutally attacked a 9-year-old girl and her mother in Los Angeles.

Gahler says the suspect has gang ties and was issued a red notice for his arrest in El Salvador.

His arrest sparked the debate around immigration.

“I am furious and our state is still grieving. She was a mother of five who had her life ahead of her and her life was cut short,” said Governor Wes Moore.

The Department of Homeland Security said the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended and expelled Martinez Hernandez three times last year when the Title 42 public health order was in effect.

They said that at each meeting he was screened and found to have no criminal history.

They stated that “despite the individual's recidivism, under Title 42, we could not impose consequences.”

Title 42 has since expired.

Gov. Wes Moore blames long-standing congressional inaction for his nation's immigration woes.

“Harford County, in our state where this brutal murder took place, is 1,800 miles from the border, so when people think this only affects a few states, it affects all of us. This “The inaction we continue to see in any form of sensible immigration policy impacts us all,” he said.

Rachel's mother, Patty Morin, expressed outrage this week to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after he referred to Morin as an individual and not by name when asked about her dead.

“It's a complete political statement. They don't want to acknowledge that she was a woman, a mother, a daughter, it totally depersonalizes her and makes her an object,” she said.

From the airport, he was taken to the Harford County Detention Center.

Harford County State's Attorney Alison Healy said she will be the prosecutor in the case.

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