BALTIMORE — Victor Martinez-Hernandez, the man found guilty of raping and killing Rachel Morin on the Ma and Pa Heritage Trail in 2023, was sentenced to life without parole Monday after hearing directly from her family in open court. That is the maximum for all charges.
Martinez-Hernandez, 24, of El Salvador, was found guilty April 14 of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sexual assault and kidnapping relating to the death of the 37-year-old Bel Air mother of five who was reported missing by her boyfriend on Aug. 5, 2023, hours after she went for a walk on the Bel Air trail.
The sentencing hearing for Martinez-Hernandez began at 9:30 a.m. and included several victim statements. Harford Circuit Judge Yolanda Curtin, who presided over the trial, also oversaw the sentencing.
Harford State’s Attorney Alison Healey, who prosecuted the case, said on numerous occasions that she was going to seek a sentence of life without the possibility of parole — the maximum state penalty for first-degree murder.
More than 500 pieces of evidence submitted by prosecutors during the nine-day trial showed that Martinez-Hernandez attacked Morin and dragged her off of the trail and into a drainage culvert, where he raped her, further assaulted her, and left her to die.
Morin was found naked with injuries all over her body the next day by members of a search party — prompting a monthslong homicide investigation by the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.
The investigation concluded in June 2024 when Martinez-Hernandez, who illegally entered the United States in 2023, was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Investigators linked the murder to Martinez-Hernandez by using DNA samples found on Morin’s body and contacting Martinez-Hernandez’s family, who provided police with information about him.
At the time of Morin’s death, Martinez-Hernandez was living in Bel Air and employed at Barrett’s on the Pike and the Bel Air Popeyes.
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