HARFORD COUNTY, Md. — Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler responded to Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett Monday following a statement she made referring to Kayla Hamilton during a House Judiciary Hearing.

On July 27, 2022, Hamilton’s boyfriend found her brutally murdered inside an Aberdeen mobile home.

The 20-year-old, who was diagnosed with Autism, was raped, tied up, and strangled with a phone cord.

Walter Javier Martinez, the person found guilty of Hamilton’s murder, was sentenced to 70 years behind bars followed by five years of supervised probation. Martinez, an El Salvadoran national, admitted to being an MS-13 gang member.

During the hearing, Rep. Crockett referred to Hamilton as a “random dead person” while calling out President Donald Trump and other Republicans for not releasing the Epstein files and “cherry-picking one horrible event, saying that person’s name, and making it political.”

Rep. Crockett would go on to mention victims of Epstein and asked Republicans to highlight any of the names that legislation is named after.

“Stop playing these games and acting like you care about one particular situation. You take a situation, and then you exploit what has happened to not only that person, but to exploit those families and you make it a game. Stop just throwing a random dead person’s name on something for your own political expediency,” said Rep. Crockett.

Sheriff Gahler, a Republican, called out Rep. Crockett, a Democrat, saying that she was “dismissing Kayla Hamilton’s tragic murder.”

“Representative Crockett, this random dead person was 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,” said Sheriff Gahler. “She was a victim of a horrible crime and in my county, we treat crime victims with compassion and respect.”

Sheriff Gahler also called for Speaker Mike Johnson to teach Rep. Crockett “a little something about respect” and says when she wants to speak on the House floor, she should be referred to as “the random woman from Texas.”

His full statement can be read below: