Decision Made About Where Rachel Morin's Killer Will Serve His Life Sentence For Murder

BEL AIR, MD — Although Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez won't have his sentencing hearing until Aug. 11, Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey said he will serve his murder sentence in Maryland and not be deported.

Healey spoke with The Baltimore Sun about the case. Martinez-Hernandez faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Martinez-Hernandez will remain in the Harford County Detention Center without bail until his sentencing.

Martinez-Hernandez, a Salvadoran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, was found guilty by a jury of found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and kidnapping following a nine-day trial in the death of Bel Air mom of five Rachel Morin, 37, while she was jogging along the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail in August 2023.

After the conclusion of the trial, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said during a news conference, “This person, who took Rachel's life in such a horrific way, will be removed from society and never allowed to harm another human being again.”

Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey also spoke at the news conference held after the trial. She shared that Morin's time spent on the trail was "her peace," and she never would have imagined that on Aug. 5, 2023, she would set out on her favorite trail and never see or speak to her children again.

"Shortly after entering the trail, Rachel was brutally attacked by Victor Martinez-Hernandez, who was waiting in the woods. Rachel fought for her life, as she was pulled 150 feet from the main trail into the woods. This was shown by the health data contained on her phone and Apple watch," Healey said. "Evidence presented in trial proved that once concealed in the drainage culverts just off the trail, she was viciously beaten, raped and ultimately murdered at the hands of the defendant. DNA evidence recovered from various parts of Rachel's body matched the DNA of Victor Martinez-Hernandez.

"Despite his claims that he had never been to Maryland, the state produced multiple witnesses and business records proving that he was living and working in Bel Air at the time of the murder. Ultimately apprehended in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the defendant's phone was seized, examined and found to contain multiple photos and screenshots of Rachel, Harford County news coverage relating to the murder investigation and searches of her name," Healey added.

Read more:

• Sentencing Set For Rachel Morin's Killer Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez
• Conviction In Rachel Morin Murder Trial Makes Community Safer: Sheriff
• Multiple Blows To Head, Face Plus Strangulation Led To Morin's Death: Doctor Testifies
• Murder Suspect Seen With Shovel Before Rachel Morin Vanished: Trial Testimony
• Rachel Morin's Murder A 'Mother's Worst Nightmare'

• Martinez-Hernandez Trial's Starts In Death Of Rachel Morin: 'Mother's Worst Nightmare'
• Rachel Morin Murder Suspect's Trial To Begin Jury Selection
• Rachel Morin Murder Trial Calls For Road Closures, Increased Security In Bel Air