The mother of Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five who was brutally raped and killed while hiking near her home last year, said she hopes her daughter will not become just another “statistic” and will not be used as a political pawn. Illegal immigrant charged If.
“I don’t want them to take my daughter’s name and defame her for political reasons. Because she’s not just a statistic. She was a mother and a daughter and a person who was very much loved. And I don’t want her life to be reduced to just a political name,” Rachel’s mother, Patti Morin, said in an interview with “The Story” on Monday.
Rachel Morin murder: Maryland police link crime scene DNA to Los Angeles attack and home invasion
Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, was arrested Friday for the murder of Rachel Morin. Police say the mother of five was hiking near her home when she was raped and then killed. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)
The police announced arrest of Victor Martinez HernandezThe 23-year-old illegal El Salvador immigrant was arrested last Friday following a 10-month investigation into Morin’s alleged killer. Hernandez, who has reportedly been in the U.S. since February 2023, was captured “sitting comfortably” at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Police said he arrived in the States just a month after allegedly killing a young woman in El Salvador. According to authorities, his DNA was also linked to a March home invasion in Los Angeles, where a mother and her 9-year-old daughter were attacked.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, former President Trump said President Biden blamed He accused him of allowing suspected “illegal monsters” to enter the US due to his administration’s open border policies and vowed to “close the border” if re-elected.
A photo of Rachel Morin is placed by her family on a tree along the Ma and Pa Trail in Bel Air, Md., Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. The 37-year-old was killed Sunday evening while hiking on the trail. (MEGA for Fox News Digital)
Maureen’s grieving mother told anchor Martha MacCallum that although Hernandez’s arrest underscores the importance of tight security on the southern border, she hopes her daughter’s life will not be reduced to a political issue.
“They’re using my daughter as a political flag, and I don’t want to underestimate the significance of what’s happening at the southern border — we’re almost 2,000 miles from there, and the county where I live and Rachel lived has already had two murders. So it’s come halfway across the southern border of the United States,” Morin said.
Biden offers ‘condolences’ but no solutions after latest illegal immigrant murder allegation
“I do think that when people hear about these murders by illegal immigrants, they’re going to use that to their advantage, and that makes the person’s life less valuable,” she added. “And I really want people to understand that life itself is valuable and precious, and we need to protect it. And that’s what makes this an American crisis, not just a political crisis.”
Maureen, 37, was reported missing by her boyfriend in August. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office/FB)
Maureen, 37, was reported missing in August by her boyfriend, who said she went for a run on the Ma and Pa Trail, a pedestrian trail in Bel Air, a quiet and generally safe city about 28 miles from downtown Bel Air, and never returned. northeast of BaltimoreAugust 5, 2023. His body was found on a trail the next day.
Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree rape.
In a press conference On Saturday, Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gehler shared details of the arrest, and said police “suspect Rachel was not their first victim.” The sheriff later turned his attention to the crisis at the southern border, directing his remarks toward the White House and to “both Congress members.”
Rachel Morin murder: Maryland sheriff says open border allowed illegal immigrant to kill mother of 5
“We’re 1,800 miles from the southern border,” Gahler said. “And American citizens are not safe because of their failed immigration policies.”
“This is the second time in two years an innocent Harford County woman has lost her life at the hands of a criminal who is in our country illegally,” he said, repeating his statement. “In both cases, the suspects are from El Salvador with ties to criminal gangs. This shouldn’t happen.”
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The Harford County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland posted signs at the Ma and Pa trail heads on June 17, 2024, announcing an arrest in the August 2023 murder of Rachel Morin. (Harford County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
“Victor Hernandez did not come to this country to make a better life for himself or his family, he came to escape the crimes he committed in El Salvador,” he said. “He came here to kill Rachel and, by God’s will, no one else.”
the White House expressed “condolences” The Morin family was quoted as saying in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Sarah Rumpf-Wheaton contributed to this report.
