The five children of Rachel Morin, the Bel Air woman slain on a hiking trail in 2023, have again filed a lawsuit against their grandmother and aunt, saying the pair has refused to share money and Christmas presents donated after their mother’s murder.
The suit accuses Patty Morin, the children’s grandmother, and Rebekah Morin, their aunt, of fraud and “unjust enrichment,” claiming that the two have not released to the children any of the $54,000 collected through a GoFundMe campaign launched the day after their mother’s body was found.
The GoFundMe originally said the proceeds were to be spent on funeral costs with “any remaining funds” going “towards things her 5 children may need.” The wording was later changed to say that additional funds would go “towards Rachel’s family and things her minor children may need,” according to screenshots included in the lawsuit.
But the suit contends that Morin’s children, who are between 9 and 19 years old, have not received any of the proceeds from the GoFundMe campaign, nor any money or gifts collected at events at several Harford County businesses in the months after Morin was killed.
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The suit was filed by Faye McMahon, Morin’s oldest daughter and the executor of her estate, and Joseph Custer and Jonathan Alderson, the fathers of Morin’s four younger children, in Harford County Circuit Court on May 1.
Through their attorneys, both the plaintiffs and defendants declined to be interviewed.
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George Robinson, who represents Morin’s children and their fathers, and Randolph Rice, an attorney who has previously represented Patty and Rebekah Morin, also declined to comment.
McMahon and the fathers of her younger siblings had previously filed a similar suit but it was dismissed in February.
Last month, a Harford jury found Victor Martinez-Hernandez, 24, guilty of crimes including first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree rape in Morin’s killing.
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During the nine-day trial, jurors heard testimony that Martinez-Hernandez brutally attacked Morin after she went out on an evening run in a wooded area, strangling her, beating her head and face and raping her. Investigators testified that they found Martinez-Hernandez’s DNA on Morin’s body.
Martinez-Hernandez, a native of El Salvador, was in the country illegally and had been previously accused of killing a woman in his native country and assaulting a girl in Los Angeles, according to authorities.
Martinez-Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 11. Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey said she plans to seek life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Morin’s murder touched off a political storm and has been frequently referenced by President Donald Trump, both during last year’s presidential campaign and in recent weeks.
Patty Morin has channeled her grief into political action, appearing on “Hannity” and “Banfield” as well as speaking during a White House press briefing to encourage people to support Trump’s agenda.
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She called out Sen. Chris Van Hollen, who traveled to El Salvador to meet with Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man being held in a notorious prison after being wrongfully deported.
In an opinion piece published in the Fox News website, Patty Morin described Van Hollen’s actions as “a slap in the face to my family.”
“Thankfully, we are blessed to have a president in the White House who actually cares about the people that elected him,” Morin wrote. “Someone who is taking real steps to secure our borders, and keep Americans safe."
Baltimore Banner reporter Dylan Segelbaum contributed to this report.
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