The mother of a Maryland woman killed in a brutal running trail attack – allegedly at the hands of an illegal immigrant whose other suspected crimes took place on multiple continents and in multiple states – will attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday after she says the tragedy led to an unlikely friendship with the returning commander-in-chief.

“It has been a surreal experience over the past year and a half. Losing my daughter in such a gruesome and unexpected way, the wait and fear of ‘if’ a suspect would ever be caught, the international attention Rachel’s case has garnered, culminating in Congressional hearings and a friendship with President Trump,” Patty Morin told Fox News Digital. 

Her 37-year-old daughter, Rachel Morin, was reported missing in August 2023 after failing to return from her daily jog. Rachel, a mother of five herself, was later found with savage injuries, stuffed into a culvert near the trail.

Earlier this month, some of those efforts paid off with the passage of the Laken Riley Act, named for another young woman whose suspected killer was an illegal immigrant. Like Rachel Morin, Georgia nursing student Riley was attacked by a stranger while jogging.

Victor Martinez Hernandez after his arrest in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has since been extradited to Maryland to face justice in the murder of Rachel Morin. (Tusla Police Department)

“By amending Federal law as stated in the Laken Riley Act, it provides stronger provisions for apprehending criminal illegal immigrants and provides injunctive relief for states and citizens who have suffered under the Biden-Harris open border disaster,” Morin said. “I am very encouraged that Congress is finally taking measures to protect American families and to ensure safer communities.”

“It was a slap in the face of the American citizens who lost loved ones when 159 Democrats chose to protect criminal illegal immigrants instead of the American citizens they were elected to protect. Shameful!” she added.