Migrant sentenced to life for murdering Maryland mum

[ad_1] Jude Sheerin BBC Information, Washington

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2192/live/79fb04e0-7723-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2192/live/79fb04e0-7723-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2192/live/79fb04e0-7723-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2192/live/79fb04e0-7723-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2192/live/79fb04e0-7723-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2192/live/79fb04e0-7723-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2192/live/79fb04e0-7723-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2192/live/79fb04e0-7723-11f0-8071-1788c7e8ae0e.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Harford Co Sheriff's Office Rachel Morin takes a selfie in a mirror wearing a black sports bra" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Harford Co Sheriff's Workplace Rachel Morin was killed on a Maryland mountain climbing path in 2023

An unlawful immigrant from El Salvador has been sentenced to life with out parole for killing an American mom of 5 – in a case invoked by President Donald Trump to help his border safety crackdown.

Victor Martinez-Hernandez, 24, was discovered responsible this 12 months within the rape and homicide of Rachel Morin, 37, on a mountain climbing path in Bel Air, Maryland, in August 2023.

He assaulted her, bludgeoned her head with rocks and strangled her earlier than hiding her physique in a drainage culvert, the court docket heard.

The killer was additionally linked to a 2023 house invasion in Los Angeles and is needed in El Salvador for the homicide of one other girl, in keeping with prosecutors.

He confirmed little emotion as he realized his destiny on Monday.

Choose Yolanda Curtin sentenced him to life for the first-degree homicide conviction, life for the rape cost, and an extra 40 years for a third-degree intercourse offence and kidnapping. He'll serve the whole sentence in a Maryland jail.

He was arrested in June 2024 after a 10-month manhunt in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

"Arguably, Harford County has by no means seen a case or a defendant extra deserving of each single day of the utmost sentences this court docket imposed," prosecutor Alison Healey mentioned exterior the courthouse.

In a victim-impact assertion earlier than the sentence was handed down, the sufferer's mom, Patty Morin, mentioned: "The brutality of her homicide will hang-out us for the remainder of our lives."

Voice recordings of Ms Morin's youngsters, ranging in age from 9 to fifteen, have been performed for the court docket.

In a message addressed to their mom, one of many youngsters mentioned: "Now I've to spend extra time with out you than I did with you."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/23eb/live/571e8a80-7725-11f0-a20f-3b86f375586a.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/23eb/live/571e8a80-7725-11f0-a20f-3b86f375586a.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/23eb/live/571e8a80-7725-11f0-a20f-3b86f375586a.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/23eb/live/571e8a80-7725-11f0-a20f-3b86f375586a.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/23eb/live/571e8a80-7725-11f0-a20f-3b86f375586a.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/23eb/live/571e8a80-7725-11f0-a20f-3b86f375586a.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/23eb/live/571e8a80-7725-11f0-a20f-3b86f375586a.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/23eb/live/571e8a80-7725-11f0-a20f-3b86f375586a.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="AFP via Getty Images Patty Morin speaks at the White House on 16 April 2025 " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> AFP by way of Getty Photographs Patty Morin shared graphic particulars of her daughter's loss of life at a White Home media briefing in April

Rachel's older brother, Michael Morin, advised the court docket his Christian religion compelled him to supply the killer forgiveness.

In keeping with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the killer illegally entered the US and was despatched again throughout the US-Mexico border thrice in 2023.

Throughout final 12 months's White Home election marketing campaign, Trump held up Ms Morin's killing and different so-called angel households - these with family members who've been killed by unlawful immigrants - as he pledged to shut the US-Mexico border.

Most research point out undocumented immigrants aren't extra prone to interact in criminality than Americans.

The Morin household has supported Trump's marketing campaign for border safety.

Michael Morin addressed the Republican Nationwide Conference final summer season in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

"Open borders are sometimes portrayed as compassionate and virtuous, however there's nothing compassionate about permitting violent criminals into our nation and robbing youngsters of their mom," he mentioned.

In April, amid an escalating showdown between the president and the judiciary on immigration, the White Home invited Ms Morin's mom to handle a media briefing.