As Harford County sheriff’s deputies on Friday escorted the man who’s accused of killing her daughter into the courtroom, Patty Morin appeared to well up with emotion.

On Aug. 5, 2023, her daughter, Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who ran a house cleaning business, went missing while out for a walk on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air. Her body was discovered the following day.

More than 10 months later, the FBI and Tulsa Police arrested Victor Martinez-Hernandez in her death. He’s accused of killing a different woman in his native El Salvador before illegally crossing the border into the United States.

For the first time, Patty Morin was seeing him in a courtroom in person.

“This is a tough day. This is one of many tough days, unfortunately,” said Randolph Rice, an attorney who’s representing some of Rachel Morin’s family members. “We’ve prepared her for that, but to be in the same room with the man who’s alleged to have killed your daughter, it’s just a very emotional day.”

Toward the end of a brief hearing, Harford County Circuit Judge Yolanda L. Curtin granted a request from Martinez-Hernandez’s attorneys to postpone his trial until April 1, 2025. He’s charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and kidnapping.

Martinez-Hernandez, 24, appeared handcuffed and shackled in a black-and-white striped jumpsuit. He’s being held in the Harford County Detention Center without bail.

He sat with his three attorneys, Assistant Public Defenders Marcus Jenkins, Sawyer Hicks and Tara LeCompte, and through headphones listened to a Spanish-language interpreter. In response to questions, Martinez-Hernandez said he went as far as the seventh grade in school and reported that he’s seeing a psychologist.

Jenkins said there is a voluminous amount of discovery in the case, which includes at least one terabyte of video as well as scientific evidence. The defense, he said, needs more time to review the material and prepare for trial.

“Unfortunately, our caseloads are not reduced because we’re representing Mr. Martinez-Hernandez,” Jenkins said.

Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey did not oppose the request for a postponement.

Outside the courtroom, Matt McMahon, the father of Rachel Morin’s oldest child, Faye, said it was a “good day.”

Martinez-Hernandez, he said, was in court. Though a judge postponed the trial, McMahon said he expected that to happen given the amount of evidence.

Said McMahon: “It’s better to have a fair trial than a rushed trial.”