BEL AIR, MD—The sheriff of Harford County, Maryland, issued a sharp rebuke on Monday against U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, for referring to a slain 20-year-old local woman as a “random dead person” during a congressional debate on immigration policy.
Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, whose county includes the site of the 2022 killing, described Crockett’s comments as “deeply troubling” in a statement that highlighted the victim’s humanity and criticized the lawmaker for dismissing the tragedy amid discussions of border security. The remarks came during a House Judiciary Committee markup session last week on the Kayla Hamilton Act, a Republican-backed bill aimed at tightening vetting for unaccompanied migrant children.
Kayla Hamilton, an autistic woman, was raped and strangled to death in July 2022 in Aberdeen, Maryland, by Walter Javier Martinez, then 16, an El Salvadoran national and alleged MS-13 gang member who had entered the U.S. illegally as an unaccompanied minor. Martinez had been apprehended at the border earlier that year and released to a sponsor by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a 2023 House Judiciary Committee report that faulted federal agencies for inadequate screening.
During the Sept. 10 committee hearing, Crockett accused Republicans of politicizing Hamilton’s death to push immigration restrictions. “Stop just throwing a random dead person’s name on something for your own political expediency,” she said, adding that lawmakers were “cherry-picking one horrible event” and exploiting families for gain. The bill, introduced by Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., passed the committee and seeks to require the Health and Human Services secretary to assess potential risks posed by unaccompanied minors before their placement.
Gahler’s statement, released on Sept. 15, directly addressed Crockett’s phrasing while emphasizing the need for compassion toward crime victims. “It’s deeply troubling to see anyone, especially Congresswoman Crockett, dismiss Kayla Hamilton’s tragic murder as just ‘a random dead person,'” Gahler wrote. He described Hamilton as “a young woman with her whole life ahead of her who was brutally murdered in our community by an illegal immigrant/MS-13 gang member. She was a victim of a horrible crime.”
The sheriff, a veteran law enforcement officer who has led the Harford County Sheriff’s Office since 2014, stressed that leaders must show “compassion and respect” for victims rather than “dismissing and insulting” them with disrespectful language. “In my county, we treat crime victims with compassion and respect,” he said. “Leaders must show compassion and responsibility, recognizing the human cost of these failures instead of dismissing and insulting victims with disrespectful language.”
Gahler expressed hope that House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would educate Crockett on proper protocol and suggested that if she speaks on the House floor, she could be referred to as “the random woman from Texas” until she demonstrates better conduct. He also called on Johnson to change procedures to prevent such insensitivity.
Hamilton’s mother, Tammy Nobles, has been a vocal advocate for the legislation, testifying that enhanced background checks are essential to prevent similar tragedies. “The Kayla Hamilton Act is necessary to ensure background checks of unaccompanied alien children occur before they are released,” Nobles said in a statement supporting the bill.
Crockett’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Gahler’s criticism. The controversy has drawn broader attention to immigration enforcement debates, with Republicans citing Hamilton’s case as evidence of systemic failures under the Biden administration, while Democrats argue such incidents are being exploited for political gain.
The Kayla Hamilton Act now advances to the full House for consideration amid ongoing partisan divides over border policy. Gahler, who has visited the southern border and advocated for stronger local-federal partnerships on immigration, reiterated in his statement the importance of addressing the “human cost” of policy shortcomings.
Harford County, with a population of about 268,000, has seen multiple high-profile cases involving crimes allegedly committed by undocumented immigrants, including the 2023 killing of Rachel Morin, which Gahler has previously linked to immigration enforcement gaps.
An Official Statement from Sheriff Gahler: pic.twitter.com/mrGZlGAiMI
— Harford Sheriff (@Harford_Sheriff) September 15, 2025
Photo via the Harford County Sheriff’s Office
