(NewsNation) — It has been one year since Maryland mother Rachel Morin was found dead on a popular hiking trail in Harford County.
The 37-year-old was first reported missing August 5, 2023, and her body was found the following day off the trail, sparking nationwide outrage over immigration policies after the suspected killer was identified as Victor Martinez Hernandez, an El Salvador native who entered the U.S. illegally.
Police declared her death a homicide and said they believed she was attacked on the trail and dragged through the woods to the location where she was raped and killed. They believed her attacker was waiting near the trail, but it wasn’t clear if she was the intended victim or the suspect was just waiting for anyone to pass by on the path.
A DNA sample found at the crime scene was quickly linked to a home invasion and the assault of a 9-year-old girl in Los Angeles, which eventually led authorities to Hernandez.
Officials say Hernandez entered the U.S. illegally multiple times. Sources told NewsNation’s Ali Bradley he crossed near El Paso multiple times in 2023 and was removed by border authorities but was able to make it back into the U.S. and evade authorities.
According to the attorney representing the Morin family, Hernandez was indicted by a grand jury in the Harford County Circuit Court on July 2.
Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey is pushing for the maximum sentence if he is convicted, which is a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Hernandez isn’t due back in court until Oct. 4, according to court records.
Morin’s family and friends gathered to pay tribute to her during an “Honor and Remembrance Walk” near the spot where the mother of five was found dead.
“It takes and shatters all the things you had put up to kind of buffer yourself from the pain, and now, you have to face the reality that she really is gone and that we’ve lost her,” Rachel’s mother, Patty Morin, said in an emotional interview with WJZ.