Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, a Salvadoran national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2023, months before he killed Rachel Morin in Bel Air, will serve his murder sentence in Maryland and not be deported, according to Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey.

Martinez-Hernandez, 24, was convicted April 14 by a Harford County jury of first-degree rape and first-degree murder in Morin’s killing; his sentencing hearing is set for Aug. 11.

To those who have argued that taxpayers should not fund the housing of undocumented migrants found guilty of committing a crime, Healey responded that the alternative poses more of a risk.

“I understand the counterargument about our tax dollars paying for his incarceration, I get that, but to me, no amount of money is worth a human being’s life,” Healey said. “At the end of the day, if we deport him then he is free and what is going to stop him from coming back over the border and hurting someone else?”

Healey explained that even if she wanted Martinez-Hernandez deported, state and federal law bars state judges from doing so. Per the law, judges in Maryland cannot order individuals to serve sentences anywhere outside of Maryland and are prohibited from even inquiring about whether an offender is a United States citizen or not, Healey said.

“It could be discriminatory,” Healey said. “We can’t base anything on factors like if you’re a female or if you’re Black or white or immigration status. The question is what crime was committed, if there is a prior record, the threat level of the individual and what is the appropriate sentence based on all of those things.”

Healey has requested a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for Martinez-Hernandez, the maximum penalty allowed in the state.

Martinez-Hernandez will have an active ICE detainer on him throughout the entirety of his time served, meaning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will need to be notified if he is about to be released. If he is released from prison, ICE could begin the deportation process.

Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said that he hopes Martinez-Hernandez will spend the rest of his life in a Maryland prison. Healey agreed.

“All hope is that … he never gets released and he stays in the Division of Corrections until he dies,” Healey said. “It is not worth it to me to have another human being go through what Rachel did.”

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