Rachel Morin's Killer Will Learn Fate At Upcoming Sentencing

BEL AIR, MD — Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez will learn his fate Monday during his sentencing hearing after being found guilty of raping and murdering Bel Air mom of five Rachel Morin.

On April 14, Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sexual offense and kidnapping after a nine-day trial. Morin, 37, was brutally attacked while jogging along the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail in August 2023. He faces Maryland’s maximum penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

During the sentencing, members of Morin’s family will give victim impact statements to express the emotional, psychological and life-altering impact her brutal murder has had on their lives, according to Randolph Rice, attorney for some of Morin's family members.

In May, Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey said Martinez-Hernandez will serve his murder sentence in Maryland and not be deported when she spoke with The Baltimore Sun. Martinez-Hernandez is a Salvadoran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2023.

"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 in a news conference held after the trial. "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.

Sentencing will be Aug. 11 at 9:30 a.m. in Courtroom 2-01 of the Harford County Circuit Court before Judge Yolanda L. Curtin.

Related:

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