The family of a Maryland mother of five who was allegedly raped and murdered by an illegal immigrant will soon face down the accused killer as his trial begins — but they will have to wait.
A judge barred Rachel Morin’s family and media from the courtroom on the first day of jury selection Tuesday.
Morin, 37, was killed along the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, a small town about 30 miles northeast of Baltimore, in August 2023 while out for a run. She was found strangled to death with a head injury.
Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, of El Salvador, was charged in Morin’s vicious death, which sent shockwaves through the quiet community and was a black eye for the former Biden administration’s lax border enforcement policies.
Patty Morin holds a picture of her daughter, Rachel, who was allegedly killed by an undocumented immigrant in Maryland in 2023, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “How Mass Deportations Will Separate American Families, Harm Our Armed Forces, and Devastate Our Economy,” in the Dirksen building on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty ImagesJury selection is expected to take about three days and an additional two weeks for the trial itself. Morin’s family is expected to be in the courtroom for the entirety of the trial, Fox News reported.
However, citing the significant public interest in the case Judge Yolanda Curtin only allowed prospective jurors into the courthouse for most of Tuesday’s proceedings. After being prohibited from entering for hours, members of the press were later allowed to listen at an open door for 61 minutes, according to WBAL.
In a recent interview with The Post, Morin’s mother, Patricia Morin, ripped the Biden administration for letting droves of illegal immigrants into the country.
Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, of El Salvador, is charged with the brutal rape and murder of Morin. Tulsa Police Department“They put every American citizen in harm’s way, every American citizen, and especially the most vulnerable, which are women and children,” she said.Morin was reported missing by her boyfriend after she didn’t return from her run on the trail, where her body was discovered the next day bloodied and bashed.
Cops released fresh sketches of the suspect in February after DNA evidence tied him to a violent March 2023 home invasion robbery in Los Angeles.
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In that incident, Martinez-Hernandez allegedly broke into the home and assaulted members of the family that lived there — injuring a 9-year-old girl and her mother before he was chased out.
He was caught on surveillance footage fleeing the home, which gave cops a better look at his face for the new sketches.
The trail in Maryland where Rachel Morin was found dead. MEGA“I’m going to make this short because I’m very emotional,” Morin’s mother, Patricia, said in an earlier statement. “I just want to take this time to thank all the law enforcement for all their hard work.
Doorbell camera footage captured the suspect. Harford County Sheriff's Office“They just really cared for our family and for our daughter,” she said. “They were going to diligently work and find the person who murdered her.”
The trial will be held at Harford County Circuit Court in Bel Air, Maryland.
