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Exclusive: Homeland Security Secretary Christie Nom on Monday responded to the sentence of Rachel Morin’s killer.
Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from Al Salvador, is being sentenced in August 2023 for life without parole for killing, kidnapping and rape of a 37-year-old Maryland. He was found guilty of allegations in April. In particular, he is facing two lives on top of an additional 40 years.
“Today, Rachel Morin’s killer was sentenced to life without parole for his cruel killing. This criminal illegal foreign should never have been in the first place in our country. Rachel should still see his 5 children growing up here,” Nom said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital for the first time.
Rachel Morin’s mother describes the laborious process of writing a statement to read on the punishment of the killer
Rachel Morin was dragged and brutally murdered by a hiking mark on August 5, 2023. (Family handout)
He said, “We listen a lot about gang members and stories of criminal illegal people in mainstream media and are not enough about their victims. God blesses Rachel and his family,” he said.
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Martinez-Hernandez entered the United States in 2023 during the Biden-era border crisis. He was arrested in June 2024 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
According to the police at that time, Morin Bell Air went missing on the MA & PA trail in Maryland and its remains were found in a nearby drain pipe the next day. According to DHS, before trying to hide in the pipe, he defeated Morin’s head with rocks and then raped his corpse.
DHS convicted five illegal migrants for serious crimes, including murder and child abuse
Homeland security secretary Christie Nom on June 20, 2025 hugged Patti Morin, the mother of the murder victim Rachel Morin. (Department of Homeland Security)
After his murder, his family has been an outspoken advocate in the public sector.
“Unfortunately, Rachel’s story is not a isolated tragedy. He is one of the many victims across our state and across the country, who were suffering from individuals who should never be here due to the failures of the Biden administration,” Patty Morin wrote in an Opinen Peace for Fox News on 29 April.
The punishment comes when the Trump administration is pursuing exile on a large scale, the agency has highlighted the arrest of illegal migrants who have been accused of other crimes or convicted.
Patty Morin, the mother of Homoid victim Rachel Morin, speaks with Karolin Levit of the White House, during the White House press conference on April 16, 2025 during the press conference. (Getty image)
DHS is also focusing on reopening the victims of the immigration crime engagement office launched during the first term of President Donald Trump. The office provides a hotline and services to the victims and their families.
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The Morin family’s Attorney, Randolf Rice on Monday, told Fox News Digital for hearing the sentence, “Rachel Morin’s presence was spoken by her children, brothers and sisters and mother today.” “He shared his deep love for him, his absence left in his life, and today his unwavering commitment to respect his memory by looking for justice and suffering others with the same destiny.”
Taylor Penli and Sara Rampaf of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
