BALTIMORE – Victor Martinez Hernandez, the 23-year-old undocumented migrant accused of murdering Rachel Morin, was staying with family members in Maryland during the nationwide manhunt, according to court documents obtained by WJZ.

He is facing charges in the murder and rape of Morin in August 2023 off Harford County’s Ma & Pa Trail.

Martinez Hernandez’s family members told detectives he had been staying with them from December 2023 until May 2024.

He was arrested on June 14 at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma and was extradited to Maryland on Thursday.

DNA match

Martinez Hernandez left his family’s home early May and didn’t return, only leaving behind two bags of clothing and a pair of shoes, according to documents.

Morin, a mother of five, was reported missing on August 5, 2023, after she had gone for a walk on the trail and didn’t return home. Her car was found at the trail parking lot and she was found dead, seemingly beaten to death and sexually assaulted, according to court documents.

DNA swabs were recovered from the items that Martinez Hernandez left behind and were processed at the Maryland State Police Forensics lab, documents show, and they matched the DNA recovered from the crime scene. 

Investigators have not said how long they believe Martinez Hernandez had been in Maryland.

Illegally crossing the U.S. Border

Law enforcement officers said Martinez Hernandez fled his native country El Salvador in February 2023 after an arrest warrant was issued for the murder of a young woman.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Martinez Hernandez attempted to illegally cross into the United States three times before successfully making it through on the fourth attempt on February 13, 2023.  

Officials say attacked a 9-year-old girl during a home invasion in Los Angeles in March 2023, and DNA recovered matched what was found at Morin’s crime scene five months later.

“Our investigative genetic genealogy team in Baltimore worked countless hours to identify the suspect by using crime scene DNA and tracing that DNA to potential family members,” said Special Agent in Charge Bill DelBagno, from the FBI’s Baltimore field office. 

Gov. Wes Moore and Attorney General Anthony Brown discussed the launch of an online system Monday for sexual assault survivors to anonymously track their DNA evidence test kits as they progress through the criminal justice system.

Using a barcode system, survivors of sexual assault will be able to keep tabs on their evidence kits as they move from the hospital, to the police department, to a crime lab and so on. Survivors will be given a unique tracking number and password after their evidence kit is completed at a hospital. Everyone who comes into contact with the kit is to scan the barcode when its in their custody, so that survivors can look up its exact location at any given time.

“When survivors don’t feel the system is on their side, survivors won’t come forward and justice won’t be served. And that’s hurting all of us,” Moore, a Democrat, said at a news conference in Annapolis on Thursday morning. “But when people feel there’s accountability, we have a better chance of getting evidence, and a better chance of closing cases, and a better chance of serving justice.”

After someone reports to law enforcement that they have been sexually assaulted, oftentimes they will undergo a forensic exam at a hospital to collect DNA evidence to confirm or identify their attacker. The evidence is then preserved so that it can be used during a criminal trial.

“This kit is a promise of justice,” Brown, a Democrat, said. “However, for too many victims and survivors in too many communities — not only here in Maryland, but across the country — when kits left hospital rooms, victims were left with nothing but questions: ‘Where’s my evidence kit? When does justice come?’”

The program, known as Track Kit, is already in place. Legislation passed in 2023 mandates that all evidence kits in the state’s backlog be added to the system by Dec. 31, 2025.

Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, a Democrat, said the tracking system will aid his office in identifying witnesses to introduce DNA evidence, and allow prosecutors to ensure that kits are actually being tested.

Shellenberger is in his fifth term as the county’s top prosecutor. His office and the Baltimore County Police Department came under fire in 2019, when county officials said that both agencies needed to do a better job of investigating and prosecuting sexual assault cases.

Online tracking systems already exist in states across the country, including North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma. But Maryland is the only state to track all existing evidence kits, including those that were collected before its system was created.

According to the governor, Maryland had 5,000 untested evidence kits in 2022.

Lisae Jordan from the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault said that survivors who need assistance using the tracking system can contact her organization at (833) 364-0046, or can reach out to their local rape crisis center.

As of Thursday morning, Brown said 14 survivors have logged into the system a combined total of 90 times since May 28.

“What does that tell you?” he asked. “Survivors want action.”

Angela Wharton is a prime example.

In 1996, Wharton, a mother of two girls, was raped at gunpoint in a wooded area in Northeast Baltimore. She underwent a forensic exam, which she said was “invasive and humiliating.”

“It was a grueling ordeal, where my body was a literal crime scene,” Wharton said Thursday. She said she endured the exam in the hope that the person who attacked her would be held accountable for his actions.

That day never came.

In 2018, she discovered that all of the evidence in her case, including her untested evidence kit, had been destroyed by the local police department less than two years after she was assaulted. Wharton said that the tracking system “represents a ray of light” for survivors who often have their “trauma dismissed and their pursuit of justice thwarted.”

“I vow to continue to use my voice to advocate for change, to raise awareness, and to support efforts that give other survivors a greater chance at justice,” Wharton said. “I want my daughters to grow up in a world where their voices are heard, their bodies are respected, and their rights are upheld.”

Lawmakers have worked for years to bring more transparency to survivors of sexual assault.

Sen. Shelly Hettleman, a Democrat from Baltimore County, who has championed the issue throughout her legislative tenure, said she was inspired to act after reading an article in The Baltimore Sun about a young woman who alleged she was vaginally penetrated by a beer bottle after going out for drinks with a coworker. She said that Baltimore County Police didn’t take her seriously, and found out three years after she was assaulted that her evidence kit and the beer bottle she gave to law enforcement had been thrown away.

“And so began my journey building on the work of so many who came before me,” Hettleman said.

Moore said that the new system will hold law enforcement accountable to send sexual assault evidence kits to crime labs for testing rather than having them go unprocessed in evidence lockers.

In 2017, Hettleman successfully sponsored legislation that standardized the method in which sexual assault evidence kits are preserved. The bill also had a provision mandating evidence kits be held for 20 years before they are thrown away. That was later changed to 75 years.

In 2018, the General Assembly passed legislation that required the Governor’s Office of Crime Control and Prevention to apply for federal funding to create a sexual assault evidence kit tracking system.

Maryland has received $5 million from the federal government for kit testing and the tracking system.

During the 2023 legislative session, Hettleman and House Judiciary Committee Vice Chair Sandy Bartlett sponsored a bill to regulate reporting requirements for the tracking system.

“It wasn’t good enough to build it,” said Hettleman. “We actually have to hold stakeholders accountable for interacting with it.”

“Survivors deserve justice and they deserve peace,” she continued. “I hope this tracking system will allow them to have both.”

The state of Maryland recently passed new legislation designed to make it easier for developers of data centers to install backup generators, which in turn will encourage the development of new data centers in the state.

Last month, Maryland Governor Wes Moore signed the Critical Infrastructure Streamlining Act of 2024, which would relieve data centers, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure from state regulations reserved for facilities looking to construct high-capacity generating stations.

In particular, the bill is said to provide clarity on the use of backup power generators for critical infrastructure like data centers. It was introduced in the Maryland General Assembly after Aligned Data Centers abandoned a project after the state Public Services Commission denied its request to install 168 backup generators. The bill was introduced three months after the cancellation and passed with a unanimous vote.

“This bill is going to supercharge the data center industry in our state so we can unleash more economic potential to create more good-paying union jobs,” Moore said during the bill signing.

“Maryland does not have to choose between making a cleaner home for everyone and preparing for the cyber challenges ahead, and the governor is committed to tackling both,” said Carter Elliot, press secretary to Governor Moore, in a separate statement to Data Center Knowledge.

Mapping the Best Data Center Locations in 2024

Meeting the Challenge

The ink was barely dry on the bill when a new data center customer was announced – but it was not a data center provider. Quantum Loophole, which provides land, power, connectivity, and scale in multi-gigawatt-scale, master-planned data center developments, announced plans for a 2,100-acre site in Frederick County, Maryland.

Quantum Loophole is constructing QLoop, a 40-mile fiber optic network ring connecting Quantum Frederick’s data center development site in Maryland to northern Virginia’s extensive data center ecosystem. Service on QLoop is expected to be ready in the first half of 2025.

“Backup power is absolutely critical to data centers around the globe, and to everyone’s access to their digital world,” said Alan Howard, principal analyst, colocation and data center building at Omdia. “The data center industry, in one more evolutionary step, is embracing big developments because they can be built where the power is available.”

Howard added: “The story about Aligned, Quantum, and Maryland is a cautionary tale for data center campus developers but will also be a great case study on how to meet challenges like this.”

US Energy Experts Highlight Potential for Nuclear-Powered Data Centers

A ’Major Win’ for the Economy

With this legislation, Maryland is poised to possibly take some business from the northern Virginia (NoVA) area, the most popular location in the country for data centers. The area is getting full and running out of both room and power. With Maryland just 50 miles away, will northern Virginia facing competition?

Howard says yes, but qualifies it. “To really benefit from the extensive interconnection ecosystem that lives in NoVA, Quantum is building a fiber loop to access. Not only does that give data centers on their campus direct connection capabilities, the vision of building it in a loop provides the redundancy most of their customers really need. It’s a well-thought-out extension to NoVA,” he said.

Steve Smith, managing director in the Americas for Digital Realty Trust, also thinks that this will make the state of Maryland more competitive as an alternative to North Virginia.

“It’s a major win for Maryland’s economy,” Smith told Data Center Knowledge. “Data centers are the cornerstone of the digital economy, driving innovation and growth. By welcoming data center developments, Maryland is poised to see significant economic benefits, including local job creation, infrastructure investment, and enhanced community engagement.

“This move underscores the state’s commitment to fostering a tech-forward environment and reaping the rewards of a booming digital landscape.”