BALTIMORE- A suspect in Maryland mom Rachel Morin’s murder was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Harford County Sheriff’s office said on Saturday during a news conference.
Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, a 23-year-old undocumented immigrant from El Salvador was arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday, said Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler. He is being charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape, and Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healy will be the prosecutor on the case, Gahler said.
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Hernandez had illegally crossed the border into the U.S. in February 2023, after murdering another young woman in El Salvador a month earlier in January 2023, Gahler said. Interpol, the international law enforcement agency, had issued a warrant for his arrest for the homicide of the woman that occurred there.
The suspect has connections in the Washington, D.C. area, in both Virginia and Prince George’s County, and ties to known gangs, Gahler said.
Martinez is awaiting extradition to Maryland, which Gahler said could take 30 to 60 days.
Rachel Morin was found murdered along the Ma & Pa Trail last August. She went missing after going for a walk along a popular trail in Harford County. Law enforcement believe the suspect hid in a drainage culvert and attacked Morin while she was walking. Authorities were able to link her murder to an assault and home invasion in Los Angeles, California, that took place on March 26.
Her family released a commercial plea in April for justice in the investigation.
Emily Hung contributed to this report.