‘She was a good mom. I miss her’: Victor Martinez-Hernandez sentenced for Rachel Morin’s killing

By Kate Amara

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    BEL AIR, Maryland (WBAL) — The man convicted in the 2023 killing of Rachel Morin was sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Harford County jury took little time in April to find Victor Martinez-Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and kidnapping.

After the verdict was announced, Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey said the state would seek the maximum penalty of a sentence greater than life without parole.

On Monday, the state sought life without the possibility of parole, plus life, plus 40 years — and that’s what the judge imposed.

“The defendant is completely and entirely unamenable to treatment or rehabilitation,” Healey told the court. “If he is released our community is in grave danger … It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.”

At sentencing, Harford County Circuit Court Judge Yolanda Curtin said: “You are not a candidate for rehabilitation. There is simply no hope to rehabilitate you. You took a life that was not yours to take. Your acts not only brutalized a young woman but also terrorized a community. The Ma & Pa Trail is a place of beauty … your acts turned that into a place of terror.”

Reaction: Sentence brings some closure, family says

“Hopefully, knowing this monster will spend every single day of the rest of his life behind bars will give them some peace as they move forward into the next chapter,” Healey said outside court after sentencing.

“I am grateful for what she gave, which was maximum sentence for everything,” Rachel Morin’s mother, Patty Morin, said outside court after sentencing. “I felt relieved that he’s never going to see the light of day outside of prison and that another person is not going to feel this grief.”

“Life, plus life, plus 40, we couldn’t ask for anything better. So, that does give us some closure. It doesn’t bring Rachel back. There’ll always be an empty void in our lives and in the children’s lives,” Erin Layman, Rachel Morin’s sister said outside court after sentencing.

“I don’t think justice was possible because justice is Rachel being with her kids and Victor not being here anymore, and that’s not possible. But I think we got the best thing that we could possibly get,” Matt McMahon, the father of Rachel Morin’s oldest child, said outside court after sentencing.

The Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office released a statement Monday afternoon, saying:

“Arguably, Harford County has never seen a case or a defendant more deserving of every single day of the maximum sentence this court imposed today. This has been a long and grueling process for Rachel’s family, and it is our hope that this sentence provides some sense of justice as they close this chapter and move forward in their grief and toward healing. “Nothing will ever bring Rachel back to them or restore their lives to what they were before this immense tragedy, but hopefully, knowing this monster will spend every single day of the rest of his life behind bars will give them some peace as they move into the next chapter of their family story. “My wish for this family and Rachel’s children is that they believe we gave them some sense of justice for the loss of Rachel and that they continue to honor her memory and legacy in everything they do for the remainder of their lives.”

Morin’s children among 10 to deliver victim impact statements

The court heard 10 victim impact statements from Morin’s siblings, her mother and four of her children, who are now 9, 12, 15 and 20 years old. Her three youngest children delivered their statements via audio recordings.

“She was a good mom,” her son said, “Every time I see a picture of her, I think about the life I had with her and my four sisters. I miss her.”

“I think about the life I had with her and my four sisters. I miss her.”

Faye McMahon, Morin’s oldest daughter who’s now a mother herself, planned to address the court in person, but it was too much. So, she asked the prosecutor to read her written statement aloud: “I had to relive the worst two days of my life in order to write this.” She called her mom “kind, strong, honest, determined and funny. She had the best laugh.” And, she told the judge: “You can help protect other mothers and daughters by giving him the maximum sentence. He is evil and he should never be free.”

“I felt it was important for them to give their victim impact statements, for it to come from their voices. It’s their statement. It’s their their feelings,” Healey said. “To me, that was what was most important and most impactful.”

“I had to relive the worst two days of my life in order to write this.”

Patty Morin told the court that she’s one of many people who said they continue to suffer from nightmares, anxiety attacks and insomnia, saying: “The depths of grief are equivalent to the depths of love felt. This will impact generations to come.”

Rachel Morin’s older brother, Michael Morin, stood while addressing the court, saying: “We have felt broken, despondent, we have cried, we have screamed, we have suffered.” He looked directly at the defendant, cited his faith and said: “I stand here and I say I forgive you.”

Rachel Morin’s sister, Rebekah Morin, wrote a statement read aloud by the prosecutor, saying: “I am exhausted — two years of complete and utter exhaustion. The defendant was called “evil” numerous times across the 10 victim impact statements.

Defense sought life sentence with possibility of parole

The defense addressed the court when the hearing resumed, seeking a life sentence with parole. Then, Martinez-Hernandez spoke through a Spanish interpreter, thanking the court “for the opportunity to speak, but I will not be giving any testimony.”

The defense maintained on Monday that the four counts should merge into two, which the state opposed.

Martinez-Hernandez, 24, was arrested in June 2024 after a nationwide manhunt after Morin, 37, a mother of five, went for a jog on the popular Ma and Pa Trail in August 2023 and never returned. Authorities found her body in a drainage culvert on Aug. 6, 2023, along the trail. She was fatally beaten with a rock.

Throughout the trial, the jury heard from numerous witnesses and saw the interaction between Martinez-Hernandez and detectives when he was arrested in Oklahoma. Martinez-Hernandez was found guilty on all of the charges after the jury deliberated for less than 50 minutes.

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