Date: August 11, 2025
RE: State v. Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez
On Monday, August 11, 2025, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez was sentenced following an April 2025 jury trial for the brutal 2023 rape and murder of Rachel Hannah Morin on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland. The trial resulted in a swift verdict with the jury finding Martinez-Hernandez guilty on all counts, which included First Degree Murder, First Degree Rape, Third Degree Sexual Offense, and Kidnapping after less than one hour of deliberation.
Evidence presented at trial proved that on August 5, 2023, Martinez-Hernandez pulled Rachel Morin from the Ma & Pa Trail, brutally raping and murdering her, ultimately concealing her body in the drainage culverts where she was found the following day. After a lengthy investigation involving both local and federal law enforcement partners, Martinez-Hernandez was apprehended and charged.
Today, Martinez-Hernandez appeared before the Honorable Judge Yolanda L. Curtin for sentencing. State’s Attorney Alison M. Healey and Deputy State’s Attorney David W. Ryden, who prosecuted the case, asked the court to impose a sentence of Life Without the Possibility of Parole, plus a consecutive and additional Life sentence, plus forty additional years to serve, which is the maximum penalty allowable by law. To support their sentencing recommendations, the State provided a lengthy presentation to the court demonstrating who Rachel was in life and not solely as the victim of a horrific crime. The presentation also showed the immense loss that her family has suffered at the hands of this Defendant through victim impact statements provided by her mother, children and siblings. State’s Attorney Healey also noted the impact that this tragedy had on the Harford County community, as well as the need to protect both our community and others from the Defendant, who has been proven to be an immense and continuing threat to public safety. State’s Attorney Healey supported this by highlighting the gross inconsistencies in the self-report provided by the Defendant in his pre-sentencing investigation and psychosexual evaluation, reminding the court of the preposterous lies told by the Defendant at each and every stage of the investigation and trial, as well as quoting the Doctor responsible for the evaluations who described the Defendant as “marked by coldness, dismissiveness, and a callous attitude when discussing the offense, along with an absence of remorse, insight, acceptance of responsibility, or empathy, significantly heightening concerns about his risk of reoffending.” In addition to the reports, the State continued by outlining the Defendant’s involvement in other violent acts, which included an active “Red Notice” from El Salvador for Aggravated Femicide relating to the murder of another female victim, listing him as “armed, dangerous, likely to escape, and violent.” Based on all the information contained in the various reports and evaluations, and the egregious nature of the offense, State’s Attorney Healey argued to the Court that Martinez-Hernandez is completely and entirely unamenable to treatment and thus, the Court should impose the maximum sentence.
Judge Curtin imposed a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, plus an additional life sentence to be run consecutively, as well as an additional forty (40) years to serve, the maximum penalty allowable by law.
Following sentencing, State’s Attorney Healey stated: “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.”