A known MS-13 gang member who was in the US illegally was allowed to enroll at a Maryland public high school even when he was already the main suspect in the rape and murder of a woman with autism, according to a report about the killer now serving a 70-year sentence.
Walter Martinez was 16 when he was able to attend classes at Edgewood High School in Harford County for several months in late 2022 as cops probed the gruesome death of 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton, Fox45 reported.
The gang banger — who had entered the US illegally from El Salvador just months before the slaying — had been identified as the main perp immediately after Hamilton’s body was discovered raped, strangled and bound inside her trailer on July 27, 2022, according to authorities.
But even though surveillance video put Martinez at the scene of the crime, the DNA evidence needed to eventually charge him took six months to be processed.
In the meantime, the known gang banger was allowed to enroll at the local school without law enforcement agencies warning the Harford County Public Schools District about the ongoing investigation.
Under Maryland law, authorities — including immigration officials — weren’t required to inform administrators of his suspect status because the teen hadn’t yet been charged.
