By Tiffany Williams –
Kayla Hamilton, who was diagnosed with high functioning autism was just 20 when she was found in her room at her residence unconscious, raped, strangled and bound on July 27, 2022.
18,216 hours after Kayla was murdered, Walter Martinez, 19, a member of MS13 stood before Judge Yolanda L. Curtin in the Circuit Court for Harford County, Maryland and entered a guilty plea for the charge of First Degree Murder.
Martinez was only 16 on July 27, 2022. He had been staying in the same home as Kayla, her boyfriend and their family for just five days. On the day Kayla was murdered by Martinez, her boyfriend and other family were at work leaving Kayla home alone with Martinez.
Kayla would often call her boyfriend when someone would knock on the door of their bedroom, as she did on the day she was murdered. However her boyfriend never answered. But her murder was recorded on her boyfriend’s voicemail. Martinez could be heard apologizing to the victim at the end of the recording.
When Kayla’s boyfriend eventually arrived home he found Kayla unconscious on the floor of their bedroom. She had been bound at the wrists and with a phone charging cord wrapped tightly around her neck and mouth.
When Emergency Medical Services arrived, Kayla was deceased. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Kayla’s death a homicide by strangulation.
During their investigation police observed Kayla’s purse and belongings scattered around the bedroom, and it was ultimately determined that money was removed from her wallet, and her cell phone was missing.
While Kayla’s boyfriend was walking home he observed Martinez, walking down the street away from the residence. A cellular device ping of Kayla’s phone later put the device in the general location where Martinez was seen that day.
Also during their investigation, police collected DNA swabs from Kayla’s body, to include anal swabs. In addition, her underwear and shorts were also analyzed for the presence of DNA and compared against a known sample from Martinez. It was determined that the DNA profile was consistent with the DNA of Martinez.
After Martinez was arrested and while he was in custody, he wrote a chilling confession letter admitting to committing four murders, two rapes, and other crimes.
Judge Yolanda L. Curtin sentenced Martinez to Life, suspended all but seventy (70) years to serve with a period of five years of supervised probation upon release.
Martinez, originally from El Salvador illegally entered the United States with the help of “cayotes” or smugglers just four months before murdering Kayla.
While Martinez was the main suspect in the murder investigation of Kayla, he was allowed to enroll at and attend classes at Edgewood High School in Harford County. Under Maryland law, authorities including immigration officials weren’t required to inform administrators at the Harford County Public Schools District that Martinez was the main suspect in a murder investigation.
Parents of students at Edgewood High School had no idea walking amongst their children was a young man who had raped, strangled, and murdered a woman with autism.
Since the school district and parents were informed, outrage has been growing across Maryland. “The man or woman in charge of this position, the individual, somebody needs to be fired,” Republican state delegate Nino Mangione said.
At a school board meeting in mid September parents and students expressed their outrage as well.
But Edgewood High School wasn’t the first school Martinez attended after murdering and raping Kayla. Child Protective Services enrolled Martinez in two Maryland public high schools. First, Lansdowne in Baltimore County and then Edgewood. Baltimore County Public Schools said they couldn’t inform parents and students because they too were never informed.