Brother of Rachel Morin speaks at RNC to condemn ‘preventable’ murder of Maryland mother on walking trail

Victor Martinez Hernandez, who is accused of killing Rachel Morin in August 2023, had been living in the US illegally, police say

Michael Morin, the brother of Rachel Morin whose slain body was found on a hiking trail in Maryland last year, gave an emotional speech at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday where he condemned her murder.

“Rachel, a joyful, accomplished athlete and mother of five, was raped and murdered by a suspected illegal immigrant,” Morin told the RNC attendees. “My sister’s death was preventable.”

Rachel Morin, the 37-year-old mother of five, was found raped and murdered along Harford County’s Ma & Pa Trail in August 2023. Nearly a year later, in June 2024, her suspected killer, Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, was arrested in Oklahoma and extradited to Maryland.

Michael Morin condemned his sister Rachel Morin’s murder in an emotional speech at the RNC Tuesday (PBS News Hour screenshot)

Police said Hernandez, who is from El Salvador, had been living in the US illegally since February 2023. He is believed to have killed a woman in El Salvador before crossing into the US and attacking a nine-year-old girl and her mother during a home invasion in Los Angeles, police said.

At the RNC, Morin told the crowd that he did not hear from President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris after his sister’s death, but he did receive a phone call from former president Donald Trump.

Rachel Morin was found raped and murdered along Harford County’s Ma & Pa Trail in August 2023 (Harford County Sheriff’s Office)

“Joe Biden and his designated border czar Kamala Harris opened our borders to him and others like him,” he said. “They never apologized. But when Rachel was killed, President Trump called my family to offer his condolences.”

He praised Trump for his compassion and response to the killing.

“He wanted to meet with us. He cared. That is leadership,” Morin said. “We need real leadership back in the White House.”

After Morin’s murder, Trump blamed Biden for her killing because the president has refused to “shut down the border”, in a post on Truth Social.

Victor Hernandez of El Salvador was arrested in June in connection to Morin’s murder. Police say he had been in the US illegally since February 2023 (Tulsa police)

“ANOTHER one of Crooked Joe Biden’s Illegal Immigrant Criminals was just charged with raping and murdering ANOTHER innocent American woman!” Trump wrote at the time.

Trump was in attendance at the RNC in Milwaukee to watch speeches on the second night, which focused on signature issues including illegal immigration and security at the southern border.

“I pray that we hold worldly leaders accountable for safety and justice for innocent people,” Morin told the attendees. “I pray that we make our country safe and secure in the memory of my sister, Rachel, who loved life.”