According to an official from ICE, the individual charged with the murder of a woman in Maryland in 2023 is an undocumented immigrant who has been arrested and deported on at least three occasions.
Last week, authorities in Oklahoma arrested Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, who has been accused of murdering Rachel Morin in August 2023. He will now stand trial on murder charges in Maryland.
Related posts
A Salvadoran national, Martinez-Hernandez, arrived in the United States on January 19, 2023, via Santa Teresa, New Mexico. He was subsequently deported on January 31, 2024, near El Paso, and again on February 6 in New Mexico, under the Title 42 authority.
The Biden Administration phased out Title 42, a policy implemented during the Trump-era that expelled migrants citing a public health emergency, in May 2023.
According to an ICE spokesperson, Martinez-Hernandez was subjected to an ICE detainer while in the Tulsa County Jail and was eventually extradited to Maryland to face the charges.
According to a statement by ICE Spokesperson James Covington, authorities arrested Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a 23-year-old Salvadoran national who was unlawfully present in the United States, on June 14. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, police department and agents from the FBI apprehended him for the murder of Rachel Morin, a case for which he was wanted by authorities in Harford County, Maryland, since Aug. 6, 2023. Following his arrest, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued an immigration detainer against Martinez-Hernandez with the Tulsa County Jail on June 15, 2024.
“He added that Martinez-Hernandez was successfully extradited to Harford County, Maryland, from Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 20, 2024. At present, Martinez-Hernandez is being held in the Harford County Jail awaiting trial.”
On August 6, 2023, the body of Morin, a mother of five aged 37, was discovered on a hiking trail in Bel Air, Maryland. This occurred a day after her boyfriend had reported her missing.
After a 10-month search, authorities were able to locate and apprehend Martinez-Hernandez with the help of DNA evidence.
Investigators suspect Martinez-Hernandez attacked Morin while she was hiking, dragged her into the woods, and killed her in a nearby drainage culvert.
