MS-13 gang member pleads guilty to murder of autistic woman in Aberdeen – Baltimore Sun

A 19-year-old who authorities said entered the United States illegally in 2022 pleaded guilty Wednesday in Harford County District Court to the first-degree murder of Kayla Hamilton, a 20-year-old Aberdeen woman with high-functioning autism.

Walter Javier Martinez was 17 when he was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree murder, first- and second-degree rape, third-degree sexual offense, robbery, assault and theft. Judge Yolanda L. Curtin sentenced him to life in prison with all but 70 years suspended.

According to a press release from the Harford County District Attorney's Office, Martinez entered the United States illegally from El Salvador in March 2022. His defense team stated during the trial that Martinez hired “cayotes” – people who are paid to bring things across the border illegally – to bring him into the country at age 16 and that he is a member of the MS-13 gang, according to the press release.

Hamilton and her boyfriend moved from Virginia to the 100 block of East Inca Street in Aberdeen several months before her death. According to the news release, Martinez had lived at the home for five days before the murder.

On the day of her murder, July 27, 2022, Hamilton was home alone with Martinez for the first time. Hamilton called her boyfriend when someone knocked on her bedroom door, and the murder was recorded on a voicemail that was played in court in support of Martinez's plea, according to the news release; Martinez could be heard apologizing to the victim on the recording.

Hamilton's body was discovered by her boyfriend, who said he saw Martinez walking down the street away from the house shortly before arriving at the scene. Hamilton's body was bound at the wrists and a phone charger was wrapped tightly around her neck and mouth, the news release said.

The medical examiner's office ruled the death a homicide by strangulation.

DNA taken from Hamilton's body and clothing linked Martinez to the crime scene, the press release said.

After his arrest, Martinez wrote a letter from the Harford County Detention Center admitting to four murders, two rapes and other crimes, the press release said.

“This defendant, who was in our country illegally, had no right to be here, harassing members of our communities and continuing the same violent gang activities he engaged in in his own country,” Harford County Prosecutor Alison Healy said in the release. “This murder was one of the most brutal and heinous crimes I have ever prosecuted.”

Healy explained that the state cannot seek a life sentence without parole because Martinez was only 16 years old at the time of the murder. In addition, Healy said that once Martinez is released from prison, he may have to undergo further immigration proceedings and deportation because an Immigration and Customs Enforcement sentence will take effect.