Rachel Morin murder: Suspect responsible for the death of Maryland mom extradited

BETHESDA, Md. - The suspect accused of killing Rachel Morin, the Maryland mom of five, was extradited to Maryland to face charges this week.

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Rachel Morin murder suspect

Morin's mother recently stated she hopes her daughter won't become just another "statistic" and be used as a political pawn after an illegal immigrant was charged in the case.

"I don’t want them to take my daughter’s name and put it on the flagpole for political reasons. Because she is more than just a statistic. She was a mother and a daughter and someone that was very dearly loved. And I don’t want to reduce her life to just a political name," Rachel's mother, Patty Morin, said in an interview on "The Story" Monday.

Police announced the arrest of Victor Martinez Hernandez, a 23-year-old illegal El Salvador migrant, last Friday after a 10-month investigation into Morin's alleged killer. Hernandez, who has reportedly been in the U.S. since February 2023, was apprehended "casually sitting" at a bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Police said he arrived in the states only a month after he allegedly murdered a young woman in El Salvador. His DNA was also linked to a March home invasion in Los Angeles where a mother and her 9-year-old daughter were assaulted, according to authorities.

During a recent press conference, Harford County Sheriff Jeffery Gahler shared details of the arrest, adding that police "suspected that Rachel was not his first victim." The sheriff later turned his attention to the crisis at the southern border, directing his remarks to the White House and to "both members of Congress."

Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five, was jogging on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5., when she vanished. She was found dead the next afternoon in what authorities have described as a "criminal homicide."

FOX News contributed to this report

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