Rachel Morin homicide: Maryland lawmaker confronts Mayorkas over ‘failure’ involving unlawful immigrant suspect

Harris Marley

World Courant

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FIRST ON FOX – Republican Maryland Rep. Andy Harris on Tuesday morning despatched a letter to Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, asking why a DNA pattern from the unlawful immigrant suspect charged in Rachel Morin’s homicide was by no means collected.

Morin, a 37-year-old mom of 5, was brutally murdered on the Ma & Pa Path in Bel Air, Maryland — an prosperous Baltimore suburb north of the town — in August 2023.

“Rachel Morin’s alleged assassin, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, had a number of encounters with border brokers previous to being charged with the first-degree homicide and rape of Rachel Morin. But, it seems his DNA was by no means collected,” Harris wrote in his Tuesday letter, calling it a “persistent and systemic failure” and noting how U.S. Customs and Border Safety (CBP) is required to gather the DNA of all unlawful immigrants underneath the DNA Fingerprint Act. 

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In June, Harford County Sheriff Jeffery Gahler introduced the arrest of Martinez-Hernandez, a 23-year-old unlawful immigrant from El Salvador, in Morin’s homicide.

Martinez-Hernandez was apprehended in Tusla, Oklahoma, and faces expenses of first-degree homicide, rape and kidnapping, in reference to Morin’s demise. 

WATCH: BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE OF MIGRANT ACCUSED IN RAPE, MURDER OF MARYLAND MOM RACHEL MORIN

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Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, arrives in Maryland. He’s charged with first-degree homicide and first-degree rape in Rachel Morin’s demise on the Ma & Pa Heritage Path in Bel Air, Maryland. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Solar/Getty Pictures)

Harris went on to notice allegations that lower than a 3rd of migrants that officers encounter on the border have their DNA samples collected by CBP, in line with DHS whistleblowers.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT INDICTED FOR RACHEL MORIN’S MURDER IN ‘CRUCIAL STEP’: FAMILY LAWYER

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“In actual fact, the interior authorities memo discovered that of the practically 1.7 million encounters with unlawful immigrants in Fiscal Yr 2022, solely about 37% resulted in DNA assortment. It’s being reported this determine dropped to 31% in Fiscal Yr 2023,” Harris wrote, including that “due to a scarcity of DNA samples, regulation enforcement investigators have been compelled to go on a protracted, country-wide search which allowed a lethal prison to roam freely for [10] months.”

The Maryland congressman is asking Mayorkas about whistleblower claims that DNA is being collected from solely a 3rd of migrants encountered on the southern border; whether or not a DNA pattern was ever collected from Martinez-Hernandez after he entered the USA; and if not, why not?

MARYLAND SHERIFF’S ‘GUT’ SAYS RACHEL MORIN WAS ‘STALKED’ BY SUSPECT BEFORE HER MURDER

Rachel Morin was dragged off a mountain climbing path Aug. 5, 2023, and brutally murdered.  (Household handout)

Authorities have labeled him a possible serial killer after his alleged involvement in a slew of crimes in opposition to ladies in Central America and the USA, and prosecutors are looking for a life sentence with out the opportunity of parole for the suspect.

“The Morin household is relieved and happy that the State is looking for life with out parole for the Defendant,” Randolph Rice, the lawyer for Morin’s household, mentioned in a press release following Martinez-Herndandez’s arrest. “This ensures that the suspect chargeable for Rachel’s tragic demise won’t ever have the chance to hurt anybody ever once more. We’re grateful for the State’s dedication to securing justice for Rachel and making certain public security.”

RACHEL MORIN MURDER: MARYLAND POLICE TIE CRIME SCENE DNA TO LOS ANGELES ASSAULT, HOME INVASION

Maryland Rep. Andy Harris on Tuesday morning despatched a letter to Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas inquiring in regards to the suspect in Rachel Morin’s August 2023 homicide. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg)

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Investigators tied DNA discovered on the scene of Morin’s homicide to DNA discovered inside a Los Angeles residence after a house invasion in March of final yr.

“As soon as in our nation, and sure emboldened by his anonymity, he attacked a 9-year-old lady and her mom throughout a house invasion in March of 2023 in Los Angeles,” Gahler mentioned on the time of the suspect’s arrest. “And as everybody I imagine is conscious, that was our first DNA match linking Rachel’s case to the one in Los Angeles.”

Victor Hernandez-Martinez is accused of the rape and homicide of Rachel Morin August 5, 2023, in Bel Air, Maryland. (Hartford County Sheriff’s Workplace/Tulsa Police Division)

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Regardless of the DNA match linking the 2 circumstances, nevertheless, authorities have been unable to search out an id match for the DNA samples collected from both crime scene as a result of it was not beforehand logged within the nationwide Mixed DNA Index System (CODIS) system, the place authorities log DNA samples of offenders arrested in the USA.

“We’re 1800 miles from the southern border,” Gahler mentioned in June. “And Americans are usually not secure due to their failed immigration insurance policies.”

Fox Information’ Sarah Rumpf and Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

Rachel Morin homicide: Maryland lawmaker confronts Mayorkas over ‘failure’ involving unlawful immigrant suspect

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