FOX45: ‘In the line of fire’: Maryland child care worker unknowingly assigned MS-13 murder suspect
A Baltimore County caregiver says Maryland Child Protective Services put her “in the line of fire” and didn’t tell her.
Angela Studivant, for five years, worked as a Child Care Specialist at The Children’s Home in Catonsville. During that time, she says she cared for Walter Martinez, the MS-13 gang member who murdered 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton in Harford County. And the whole time, she had no idea she was caring for a killer.
Studivant say she was stunned last week when she sat down Monday evening and turned on FOX45 News.
“I seen the young man, and I recognized his face, I just kept on saying, I know this young man. And I was like, oh my gosh, that’s Walter,” Studivant explained.
The Children’s Home is a foster care group home that, according to its website, provides “child, youth and family services” to promote “long-term well-being and success.”
During her time at the home, Studivant cared for hundreds of children, including Martinez.
“I think that was awful and despicable. That put me in the line of fire that I didn’t even know that I was in,” Studivant said.
On July 27, 2022, Martinez killed 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton in Harford County. After the murder, Aberdeen Police quickly identified Martinez, 16, as the main suspect. According to charging documents, Martinez was an MS-13 gang member who entered the country illegally as an unaccompanied minor.
As police investigated Kayla’s murder, Child Protective Services took custody of Martinez. FOX45 reported last week that police told CPS Martinez was dangerous and should be isolated. Instead, he was placed in The Children’s Home where he was assigned to Studivant. She tells Fox45 News she was not informed of Martinez’s past.
“We don’t have security there to protect us,” Studivant said. “So when you don’t have nobody there to protect you, if a murderer comes in and he wants to kill, he can do it.”
At one point during his stay, Studivant told Fox45 she took Martinez to the dentist. For over an hour, he sat behind her in the back seat as she drove.
“I do not think that they should have accepted him into The Children’s Home,” Studivant said. That was very risky. And they need to thank their lucky stars that this young man didn’t strike again, because there was plenty of ways that he could.”
While at The Children’s Home, Martinez also enrolled as a student at Lansdowne High School.
“He shouldn’t have been enrolled in school,” Studivant said. “I have children. I don’t want them sitting next to a murderer in school.”
In August, Martinez was convicted of murdering Kayla and sentenced to 70-years in prison. When Martinez was in jail, he wrote a letter to a pastor in El Salvador, which was intercepted by authorities.
In the letter, according to Harford County State’s Attorney Alison Healey, Martinez admits to murdering four people and raping two — which Healey believes includes Kayla.
“If I were to make an educated guess at it, I would say that the other three were in El Salvador. But I don’t know that to be a fact,” said Healey.
In a statement to FOX45 News, The Children’s Home said it “cannot comment on matters dealing with their youth” and to contact the Department of Human Services, which oversees CPS. So, FOX45 reached out and received this response from DHS, “We are unable to disclose information about child welfare cases.”
“I don’t think that he should have ever been outside at all because we were all in danger. MS-13 gang member like, come on, be for real,” Studivant said.
Martinez only spent a few months at The Children’s Home over the summer of 2022 and into the fall. Studivant says he was causing problems and misbehaving. In October 2022, Martinez was sent to a foster home in Harford County, where he enrolled and attended Edgewood High School until he was arrested in January 2023.
When asked if she thought that the foster parent would have known of Martinez’s past, Studivant said it was unlikely.
“I would think that they did not know,” she said. “Because why would you say ‘yes?’ You’re putting all your other kids in jeopardy. That’s not fair. We’re here to protect them. We’re not here to put them in more harm. That’s a problem.”
FOX45 contacted the Harford County foster parent who took in Martinez to ask if they were told by CPS about Martinez’s background. The foster parent declined to answer any questions.