An unsuspecting Maryland high school allowed an MS-13 gang member at the center of a murder investigation to enter the school after authorities failed to inform administrators of the gang member’s suspect status.
Walter Martinez, an MS-13 gang member who was the prime suspect in the July 2022 murder of Kayla Hamilton at age 16, was enrolled and attended Edgewood High School in Harford County, Maryland, without the district being informed of his status as a suspect in the case, according to a report by Baltimore’s Fox 45.
“When I start at the very beginning and get to the end, they say, ‘Wow, that’s a really crazy story,'” Hamilton’s mother, Tammy Nobles, told Project Baltimore for the report. “And I say, ‘It’s a crazy story. But it’s a true story.’ It’s the worst pain a parent could ever experience.”
“She was found with a string around her neck and mouth. Then she was just left on the ground like garbage,” Nobles added.
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Martinez, a Salvadoran native who was in the U.S. illegally, was quickly identified as the prime suspect and arrested by police. Surveillance video and an audio recording showed the gang member was at the crime scene.
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“They knew he was guilty. They just needed that DNA to really prove it,” Nobles said.
According to Fox 45’s report, Martinez was read his Miranda rights and police sent his DNA for testing, but the process took six months. In the meantime, he was allowed to enroll in school without any agency informing school administrators of the investigation.
“This makes me angry,” Nobles said. “You sit there and send this monster to high school with other people’s children, and you’re putting children in danger. Look what he did to Kayla.”
Martinez entered the United States illegally through Texas as an unaccompanied minor in March 2022, the report said. He was detained by border patrol and eventually sent to Maryland to live with a sponsor.
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Four months later, Martinez moved into the trailer in Aberdeen, where he was accused of Hamilton’s murder.
In January 2023, DNA results were finally available, leading to Martinez’s arrest. He pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 70 years in prison in August 2024.
The report points out that under Maryland law, Martinez was allowed to attend school before he was charged with murder and that authorities were not required to inform the district of his situation. Still, Nobles believes they should have.
“Why did you send him to a public school? I want to know why,” Nobles said. “Someone has to be held accountable.”
“We need to change the laws,” Nobles added. “If you are a suspect, the prime suspect in a crime, you should not be allowed to go to school with other children. They have virtual schools and computers.”
In a statement to Fox 45, the school said, “We have no information to suggest he poses a danger to other students and staff. HCPS does not have unrestricted access to law enforcement information that might indicate a potential student is dangerous, affiliated with a gang, or suspected of heinous and disturbing crimes.”
Nobles, who lives in Virginia with Hamilton’s younger brother and sister, said she is speaking out now in hopes of drawing attention to her daughter’s story.
“Imagine what she went through that day, how she felt – in her last moments she knew she was going to die and never see me again – how scared she must have been,” Nobles said. “I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. People need to know what really happened and what’s going on. Her death will not have been in vain.”
Aberdeen Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Source of the original article: MS-13 gang member suspected of murder allowed to attend high school in Maryland
