A judge on Friday denied a motion to move the trial of the man accused of killing Rachel Morin out of Harford County, ruling that the jury selection process is sufficient to address any concerns.

Circuit Judge Yolanda L. Curtin said she did not dispute that the case against Victor Martinez-Hernandez has been the subject of “extensive media coverage.”

At the same time, Curtin said, she did not believe that warranted moving the trial. She noted that the case has received national and international attention, adding that everyone knows about it in Maryland.

“This court has been involved in several high-profile cases,” Curtin said. “The court believes the voir dire process is the adequate process.”

Martinez-Hernandez, 24, is charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree rape, third-degree sex offense and kidnapping in the killing.

Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five who ran a housecleaning business, went missing on Aug. 5, 2023, on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air. Her body was found the next day.

Following an investigation, the FBI and Tulsa Police arrested Martinez-Hernandez at a bar 10 months later.

The Harford County State’s Attorney’s Office has filed a notice of its intention to seek life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Martinez-Hernandez’s attorneys, Assistant Public Defenders Marcus Jenkins, Sawyer Hicks and Tara LeCompte, filed the motion for change of venue, arguing that the case has been the topic of “numerous inflammatory and prejudicial reports in both legacy and social media.”

Jenkins claimed the case might be the highest-profile prosecution in Harford County in the last 10, 15 or 20 years.

Without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, Jenkins said “national figures” running for the highest office in the United States have even talked about the killing.

People put up posters, volunteered to go on searches and took part in vigils, Jenkins said. The Ma & Pa Heritage Trail, he said, is “fundamentally different” because it borders several communities.

“The state can get a fair trial in any jurisdiction in Maryland,” Jenkins said.

But Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey contended that the jury selection process was the appropriate way to ensure a fair trial.

“There has been no showing before this court that pretrial publicity has been unduly prejudicial,” Healey said.

Potential jurors, she said, are not required to be completely unaware of a case. And because it has received national and international attention, moving the trial would not solve any problems, Healey said.

During the hearing, Martinez-Hernandez sat handcuffed and shackled in a striped jumpsuit and participated with the help of a court-certified Spanish interpreter. He did not visibly react.

Morin’s family members and loved ones watched in the semicircular courtroom gallery.

Her mother, Patty Morin, brother, Michael Morin, and half-sister, Erin Layman, attended the court proceedings. So did Matthew McMahon, the father of Rachel Morin’s oldest daughter, and Jonathan Alderson, the father of Rachel Morin’s youngest two children.

Later, Curtin held off from ruling on a motion that prosecutors filed to allow the jury to visit parts of the trail. But she said she was “extremely concerned about logistics.”

Martinez-Hernandez is accused of killing a different woman in his native El Salvador.

In 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers captured him three times after he illegally crossed the border. But he then reentered the United States.

He’s also a suspect in Los Angeles in a home invasion and assault.

Martinez-Hernandez is being held in the Harford County Detention Center without bail. His trial is set to begin on April 1.