Mother’s Heartfelt Plea: Urges Media to Reveal Truth About Daughter’s Murder

On April 16, 2025, Patty Morin stood in the White House briefing room, her voice trembling with grief and determination. The mother of Rachel Morin, a 37-year-old mother of five brutally murdered in August 2023, delivered a raw and emotional plea to the press: “Please tell the truth.” Her daughter’s killer, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, was convicted just days earlier of first-degree murder, rape, and kidnapping. Invited as a special guest by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Patty used the platform to share her family’s pain and challenge the media to report the unfiltered reality of violent crimes tied to illegal immigration.

The briefing was a last-minute addition to the White House schedule, announced only hours before with the promise of a “special guest.” As Patty took the podium, the room fell silent. She recounted the horrific details of Rachel’s death with a mother’s anguish. Rachel was attacked while jogging on the Ma & Pa Heritage Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, a familiar route she took for exercise. “She wasn’t planning on dying that day,” Patty said, her voice breaking. “She was going to the grocery store with her girls afterward.” Instead, Martinez-Hernandez, a fugitive with alleged gang ties, ambushed her. He struck her head with a rock at least 20 times, fracturing her skull, dragged her 150 yards through her own blood, and raped her against a tunnel wall. The brutality was so extreme that courtroom images were sealed to protect Rachel’s five children and granddaughter. “Every inch of her body was injured,” Patty told the hushed reporters, describing bruises, broken bones, and a crushed skull.

Patty’s testimony was not just a recounting of loss but a call for accountability. She expressed frustration with what she sees as a system that failed her daughter. She singled out Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen, who recently traveled to El Salvador to advocate for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a deported Salvadoran man with alleged MS-13 ties, whom the Trump administration labeled a foreign terrorist. “A senator from Maryland, using taxpayer money, flew to El Salvador to bring back someone who’s not even an American citizen, while barely acknowledging my daughter’s brutal death,” Patty said, her voice thick with disbelief. “Her five children are left without a mother, her grandbaby without a grandmother.”

The briefing came amid escalating political tensions over immigration. The Trump administration has faced criticism for deporting individuals like Abrego Garcia, who was granted protected status in the U.S. due to fears of gang persecution in El Salvador. Leavitt, standing beside Patty, defended the administration’s policies, arguing that Martinez-Hernandez represented the kind of threat President Trump aims to eliminate. “Patty should not have to be here today,” Leavitt said. “These are the criminals we want out of our country.”

Patty’s core message was a direct challenge to the media. “Tell the truth,” she urged. “This isn’t just politics or votes. It’s about national security, protecting our children.” Her plea—“Please tell the truth”—resonated as both a personal cry and a broader demand for honest reporting on the dangers of unchecked immigration. She criticized outlets for downplaying the violence of crimes like Rachel’s, urging journalists to convey the full scope of the tragedy. “It’s more than a statistic,” she said. “It’s my daughter.”

The room, typically abuzz with questions, remained quiet when Leavitt opened the floor. Reporters, visibly moved, offered condolences as Patty stepped away. One attempted a question, but Leavitt shut it down, ending the session abruptly. The silence spoke volumes about the impact of Patty’s words.

Patty’s appearance stirred controversy. Critics accused the administration of leveraging her grief to deflect from scrutiny over its deportation policies. A recent 60 Minutes report noted that 75% of deportees to El Salvador had no criminal records, raising questions about due process. For Patty, however, the issue was personal. “Why do we allow violent criminals with no conscience to murder our mothers, sisters, daughters?” she asked, her question lingering unanswered.

Social media amplified Patty’s message. White House posts quoted her: “It feels like a part of you is being ripped out.” Another shared a video of her meeting with President Trump, who called her a “dear friend” and said, “Your daughter is looking down proud.” The posts, viewed widely, underscored the administration’s push to center Rachel’s story in the immigration debate.

Patty’s advocacy began the moment she learned of Rachel’s death. On August 5, 2023, Rachel went missing after her jog. Patty, 500 miles away in Kentucky, was devastated when her daughter’s body was found the next day. Over the past two years, she has channeled her grief into action, testifying before Congress in 2024 and calling for stricter border policies. “The southern border is a war zone,” she told lawmakers. “Americans need to know the truth.”

As Martinez-Hernandez awaits sentencing—potentially life without parole—Patty continues her fight. Her White House appearance was a pivotal moment, not just for her family but for a nation grappling with immigration and public safety. Her plea to the media was clear: stop sanitizing the violence, stop obscuring the stakes. “This is about protecting our children,” she said, her voice steady despite her pain. “Tell how violent it really is.”

Rachel’s children, now navigating life without their mother, are at the heart of Patty’s mission. She spoke of their resilience but also their loss, of a granddaughter who will never know her grandmother’s love. Her words painted a vivid picture of a family forever altered, a community shaken, and a mother determined to ensure her daughter’s death sparks change.

Patty’s challenge to the media reverberates beyond the briefing room. It’s a call to confront uncomfortable truths, to prioritize victims over politics, and to acknowledge the human cost of policy failures. As she left the podium, her plea lingered: a mother’s cry for justice, a demand for honesty, and a reminder that behind every headline is a story of real, irreplaceable loss.