Rachel Morin’s Family Breaks Silence About Murdered Mom: ‘Long 10 Months’

Family members said they are “finally” getting justice in the 2023 murder of Rachel Morin after an arrest was made 10 months later.

Morin, a 37-year-old Maryland resident, was allegedly raped and murdered by 23-year-old undocumented migrant Victor Martinez Hernandez while out for a run in August of 2023.

Authorities found DNA at the scene that matched a male suspect wanted for a home invasion and assault of a nine-year-old girl in Los Angeles. However, the suspect’s identity was unknown.

Officials arrested Hernandez at a bar in Tulsa on June 14, the Tulsa Police Department announced in a Facebook post.

He is facing charges of first-degree rape and first-degree murder. He will be extradited to Maryland for prosecution.

Morin’s sister, Erin Morin Layman, and Morin’s former boyfriend and father of her oldest child, Matt McMahom, appeared on Court TV on Tuesday to talk about the latest developments in the case.

“It’s been a long 10 months,” Morin Layman said.

She said the arrest was a positive development in the case.

“We’re grateful and relieved and happy that he is finally off the streets, he can’t do this to anyone else, and that justice will be served for Rachel,” Morin Layman said.

McMahom spoke about how the arrest has been a relief for him as well.

“When you realize he’s been caught, it’s almost like you’ve been suddenly freed,” McMahom said. “I can start thinking about other things and my whole mentality just instantly changed.”

The past 10 months have also been tough for Morin’s five children, McMahom said.

“Even though he’s caught, and that’s good news, it’s also a reminder of the trauma that they’ve been dealing with for the last 10 months,” McMahom said. “So this is also a very painful time for them as well. It brings back up so many emotions and thoughts and feelings of loss.”

Morin Layman shared how she has been supporting her sister’s children through this loss.

“I’m not worried about me,” Morin Layman said. “I am worried about Rachel’s children and just focusing on them, spending time with them, loving them, being everything in their life that I could possibly be.”

She also spoke about her frustration with the fact that the suspect in the murder was allowed to enter the country illegally.

“I feel like there is way too much freedom at the border and it needs to be secure. And it’s just painful that people that we don’t know, criminals coming in, bringing drugs, sex trafficking, like there’s so much crime coming through the border,” Morin Layman said.