FOX45: Multiple failures led to MS-13 murder suspect attending Maryland schools, official says
A former federal law enforcement officer says multiple government failures allowed an MS-13 gang member and suspected killer, who has since been convicted of murder, to attend two Maryland public schools.
“My message is be outraged, be mad, be angry and take action,” Mark Morgan, a former FBI agent and the former Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said about what he would tell parents whose children were sitting in class with an MS-13 suspected murderer, and they didn’t know it.
Morgan’s been watching, over the past few weeks, as FOX45 investigated the death of Kayla Hamilton, and how her murderer, Walter Martinez, was allowed to attend two Maryland schools after he killed the 20-year-old in Harford County.
“This is about public safety,” said Morgan. “There were multiple failures in our system.”
According to Morgan, those failures started in March 2022 when Martinez entered the United States illegally through Texas as an unaccompanied minor. When the 16-year-old crossed the border, he was taken into custody by Border Patrol. But Morgan says Martinez was likely not properly vetted as a potential MS-13 gang member before authorities released him to a sponsor’s home in Frederick County, Maryland.
“We should not be releasing them into our country until we have the ability, at least to thoroughly and properly vet this individual to fully understand their criminal background,” Morgan said.
Within months of arriving in Maryland, Martinez moved to a mobile home in Aberdeen, where he later killed Kayla. This is where Morgan says the second failure occurred.
According to charging documents, after the murder, Martinez was taken into custody again. This time by Aberdeen Police who identified him as the primary suspect. Police then asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement to detain Martinez during the investigation. ICE denied the request, telling FOX45 News in a statement that it had no “legal grounds” to detain Martinez because he was a “juvenile who had not been charged with any crime.”
But Morgan said there are exceptions.
“I think they should have [held him]. If someone does pose an imminent threat to this country, there is a method to actually be able to detain these individuals,” explained Morgan. “It’s always been a part of a judgment call of ICE based on the totality of circumstances.”
That judgement call by ICE leads to what Morgan considers a third public safety failure. When the ICE hold request was denied, Aberdeen Police released Martinez and placed him with Maryland Child Protective Services. According to sources, police told CPS Martinez was dangerous and should be isolated. Instead, following Kayla’s murder, CPS put Martinez in a group foster home in Baltimore County where he enrolled in Lansdowne High School. Then, in October 2022, Martinez was moved to a foster home in Harford County where he enrolled and attended Edgewood High School until his arrest in January 2023.
Both school systems told FOX45 News, they were not informed that Martinez was a gang member and murder suspect. Martinez has since been convicted of killing Kayla and was sentenced to 70-years in prison.
“I think it illustrates that there’s a lack of communication in the schools. Schools should know if there’s a kid in a school that’s an active gang member or has been a person of interest in a savage murder,” Morgan said. “And then parents should demand to know what are you doing about it? How are you preventing this MS-13 gang member from potentially taking my daughter’s life?”
Maryland lawmakers have told FOX45 News they are currently working to draft legislation that would either prohibit students who are suspected of committing a violent felony from attending school in-person, or mandate that schools be alerted when a student is suspected of committing a felony.