Southwest
Rachel Morin's 'bum' killer mooched off locals before murdering mom of 5: lawyer
The attorney for Rachel Morin’s family says the trial of her murderer is a testament to relentless law enforcement and a devastating indictment of immigration failures that allowed her killer to murder the Maryland mom of five.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was found guilty of raping and murdering Morin in August 2023. The jury returned a unanimous verdict in 46 minutes after a weeklong trial that exposed the graphic details of the crime and the cross-country manhunt that followed.
“After 19 months of going through this nightmare of losing Rachel, we now have a verdict,” Randolph Rice, the Morin family attorney, told Fox News Digital. “Victor Martinez-Hernandez is guilty on all counts.”
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: JURY FINDS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GUILTY OF KILLING JOGGER
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty of raping and killing Rachel Morin in Maryland in August 2022. (Tulsa Police Department/Facebook)
The Baltimore-based attorney said the migrant was a “bum” who took advantage of the people he stayed with.
“What we also learned was that he really had no connections to that community, other than he might have had some people that he knew from El Salvador when he was a little child, and apparently he seemed like he was couch-surfing wherever he could find a home,” Rice said.
“He was a troublemaker. He was a bum who didn’t pay for a thing and was ultimately kicked out of that Bel Air home,” he said. “Even though they got him jobs, he was just sitting at the bar drinking.”
Entrance to the Ma & Pa Trail in Maryland (Google Maps)
The Salvadoran migrant’s path led him to the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, a quaint community northeast of Baltimore, on Aug. 14, 2023.
“She was attacked and dragged into a tunnel. Her Apple Watch later became a critical piece of evidence, linking the suspect directly to the crime scene,” Rice said.
Witnesses described following blood trails that eventually led to Morin’s remains. Forensic teams later recovered DNA from her body, the tunnel wall and other surrounding evidence.
RACHEL MORIN’S ALLEGED ILLEGAL KILLER LEFT SLAIN JOGGER’S BODY ALONG 150-FOOT BLOOD TRAIL
They described a trail with flattened leaves before finding rocks with blood on them. The two witnesses walked through two tunnels with overgrown brush, where they found Morin’s body.
“I saw an unclothed human body on her back. At first, I truly thought it might have been a deer or something that had died in there,” testified Evan Knapp, who found Morin’s body. “So, I had to move a bit closer to confirm what I had seen, and it was a human. I feel like time froze for a second, and I didn’t know what I was looking at.”
Evan Knapp testifies in the murder trial of Victor Martinez-Hernandez at the Harford County Courthouse in Bel Air, Md., on April 4, 2025. (Dana Verkouteren)
Knapp and his friend, Cecilia, immediately called 911. Authorities retraced the path where Morin’s body had been dragged after her rape and murder. Police also collected large bloody rocks that authorities said were used to smash her skull.
Autopsy results revealed that Morin had endured 15 to 20 blows to the head and had died from a combination of strangulation and blunt force trauma. Her death was officially ruled a homicide.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez was convicted of raping and murdering Rachel Morin in Maryland on Aug. 5, 2023. (Tulsa Police Department/Facebook)
Rice said this was a “preventable crime” that touched on a flash point in the 2024 presidential race with immigration front and center.
“This was a preventable crime because you had an individual who should not have been in the United States.”
“And in fact, he was stopped three times at the border. He was returned to Mexico. And then ultimately he crosses a fourth time in El Paso, Texas. And then he goes on his spree of crimes in the United States, starting in Los Angeles. There, he breaks into a house and he assaults a mother and daughter there, and then he makes his way across the country, presumably on a bus, to Bel Air, Maryland.”
WATCH: VICTOR MARTINEZ-HERNANDEZ ARREST
Rice praised the dedication of law enforcement, noting that investigators combined DNA evidence, digital tracking and social media clues to locate the suspect. He was ultimately arrested at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
RACHEL MORIN MURDER: FORMER FBI AGENT REVEALS HOW CAPTURE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT IN KILLING WENT DOWN
“He had screenshots of press releases about Rachel’s murder saved on his phone,” Rice said. “He knew the net was closing in.”
Despite denying ever being in Maryland, Martinez-Hernandez’s DNA was matched to multiple sources at the crime scene.
Rachel Morin was found dead on a hiking trail. She was reported missing by her boyfriend, Richard Tobin, far right. (Facebook)
Morin, 37, left behind five children. Her 14-year-old daughter was the first witness to testify last week, fighting back tears as she described her mother’s disappearance.
“This is a scary reminder of how careful we have to be when we’re out and about,” said Rice. “Rachel never knew this man. It was completely random.”
Martinez-Hernandez is set to be sentenced and could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. Fox News Digital reached out to his attorney.
Patty Morin, left, mother of Rachel Morin, is shown during the daily press briefing at the White House on April 16, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
With visible emotion, Morin’s mother, Patty Morin, spoke as a special guest at Wednesday’s press briefing at the White House, sharing personal testimony about the urgent need to remove criminal migrants from the country.
“These are the kind of criminals President Trump wants to remove from our country. These are the kind of criminals that we need removed from our country. We are American citizens,” she said. “Why should we allow people like this, violent criminals that have no conscience at all, to murder our mothers, our sisters, our daughters?”
“I don’t understand why there’s even any kind of problem with this. … We need to protect our families, our borders, our children,” she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, joined by Patty Morin, mother of Rachel Morin, left, holds a briefing on April 16, 2025. (Pool)
Justice Department attorneys said they were unaware of Maryland immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts after he was deported to an El Salvadoran prison last month. (Fox News)
Rice slammed Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., for traveling to El Salvador on Wednesday to check on the condition of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a 39-year-old who was deported to the El Salvadoran mega prison called the Terrorism Confinement Center for being an alleged MS-13 gang member, though his attorneys maintain he does not have any gang ties.
“So it seems that he is giving more attention to an illegal immigrant than he is to a Maryland and American citizen, Rachel Morin,” Rice said. “That’s crazy … it is just a no-brainer. You’re here to protect Americans and Marylanders. And he’s more worried about going to El Salvador and bringing an illegal immigrant back who is a gang member.”
After Martinez-Hernandez was convicted of Morin’s murder, Van Hollen said in a statement he was grateful to law enforcement and calling for “meaningful action” to reform “our broken immigration system.”
“We can do this while also supporting our immigrant communities and respecting the rights of individuals who are here legally – I am committed to doing both, and I will continue pressing my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to move forward on this issue,” Van Hollen said.
Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Los Angeles, Ca
Man wanted for deadly Los Angeles road rage shooting extradited from Mexico
A man wanted for a deadly road rage shooting in Los Angeles was arrested and extradited from Mexico after fleeing the U.S. in 2024.
The suspect was identified as Christian Rojas, 21, of Bellflower, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Authorities had been searching for him since the deadly incident on October 10, 2024.
Rojas and a second suspect, Joshua Rojas Sr., 47, of Downey, were driving on the northbound 5 Freeway in Boyle Heights around 4 p.m. when they became involved in an altercation with another driver that escalated into a shooting.
Video of the tense confrontation showed the suspects, who were driving a Dodge Durango SUV, opening fire on two men in a Cadillac sedan.
The shooting forced the victim to pull over abruptly. That’s when a suspect ran up to the Cadillac, opened the passenger-side door and fired several shots at close range.
In a panic, the Cadillac driver tried to escape by making a sudden U-turn and driving against oncoming traffic. He eventually crashed head-on into several vehicles.
The suspects ditched their SUV and fled toward a freeway exit on foot. The Cadillac driver was left with serious injuries and his passenger was killed. Their identities were not released.
The incident caused a miles-long backup that left thousands of motorists stranded on the freeway for hours and authorities worked to clear the scene.
Following an extensive investigation, detectives identified the two men as the suspects involved.
Joshua Rojas Sr. was arrested in San Bernardino on October 22, 2024, on a murder charge. He remains in custody awaiting trial.
Meanwhile, Christian Rojas had fled the U.S. and was hiding in Mexico, detectives said. A $4.3 million bail warrant was issued for his arrest.
“Through a coordinated international effort, investigators determined that Rojas was living in Palomo de Arriba, Mexico,” CHP officials said. “The U.S. Marshals Service worked with Mexican state police to locate and arrest him on the outstanding warrant.”
On June 2, 2026, Christian was arrested and extradited to the U.S. to face a murder charge.
“This arrest demonstrates that time and distance will not shield violent offenders from justice,” said CHP Southern Division Chief Chris Margaris. “For nearly two years, our detectives remained relentless in their pursuit of those responsible for this senseless act of violence. Through exceptional collaboration with the United States Marshals Service and our law enforcement partners in Mexico, we located and apprehended this suspect and brought him back to face the charges. We remain committed to protecting the public, supporting victims and their families, and holding violent criminals accountable wherever they may try to hide.”
Los Angeles, Ca
NB 405 Freeway closed near LAX after pursuit ends in gunfire
The northbound 405 Freeway will remain closed for several hours near Los Angeles International Airport after a police pursuit ended with officers opening fire Friday morning. Unconfirmed reports indicated the incident began with a robbery at a 7-Eleven store, which ended with Los Angeles Police Department officers pursuing the suspect in a Kia. The chase […]
Los Angeles, Ca
'Top Gun: Maverick' actor identified as victim stabbed to death in Tarzana
The victim in a bizarre and deadly stabbing in Tarzana has been identified as 81-year-old character actor James Handy, best known for a recent role in Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick.” The stabbing happened around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 19200 block of Erwin Street in the West Valley area. Officers responded after receiving a […]
-
Montana2 minutes agoSame Stars by Montana Joanna: Review | Illustrate Magazine
-
Nebraska9 minutes agoSoutheast Nebraska assault report leads to child porn discovery
-
Nevada11 minutes agoMissing person alert canceled after North Las Vegas man found dead
-
New Hampshire17 minutes agoManchester Man Indicted On Pembroke Child Assault Charges: Merrimack County Superior Court Roundup
-
New Jersey24 minutes ago
Robots? Podcasts? See inside North Jersey Girl Scouts’ new Dream Lab
-
New Mexico26 minutes agoNew Mexico Highland University fires president
-
North Carolina32 minutes agoFire Crews Contain Woods Fire Near Brown Farm Road
-
North Dakota39 minutes agoState launches new system to improve farming data





