Illegal migrants lured Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, under bridge, assaulted her for 2 hours before killing her: prosecutors
The illegal Venezuelan migrants accused of murdering a 12-year-old Houston girl lured her under a bridge, where they stripped her naked to the waist and assaulted her for two hours, disturbing new court documents allege.
Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, allegedly bound Jocelyn Nungaray’s hands behind her back during the brutal assault, then strangled her and dumped her body in a bayou, a Harris County court heard Monday.
Her feet were also bound and her back was covered in cuts, according to KPRC.
After the murder, Pena Ramos allegedly asked his employer at a construction site for money so he could skip town after the murder, prosecutors said, according to Fox 26 Houston.
Both men are charged with capital murder for Jocelyn’s death, and Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said prosecutors have not ruled out pursuing the death penalty.
Pena Ramos appeared during the Monday hearing, where the judge ruled him a flight risk and set his bond at $10 million — double what prosecutors requested and 10 times the sum sought by the defense. Rangel Martinez’s bail has not yet been set.
“Our immigration system is broken and if there was ever a case that reflected that, it’s this one,” Ogg said during a press conference after the hearing.
Pena Ramos crossed the southern border illegally at El Paso, Texas, on May 28, The Post first reported last week. He told agents he was going to live with his cousin in Houston and that he feared for his safety if he was sent back to Venezuela.
Follow along with The Post's reporting on Jocelyn Nungaray's murder
- The illegal Venezuelan migrants accused of murdering Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston lured the 12-year-old girl under a bridge, where they stripped her naked to the waist and assaulted her for two hours, disturbing new court documents allege.
- Both Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos were seen on surveillance video entering a 7-Eleven with Jocelyn the night she was killed and before the two walked her to a bridge, where her body was later found half-naked and strangled.
- Peña, 26, and Martinez-Rangel, 21, allegedly bound Jocelyn’s hands behind her back during the brutal assault, then strangled her and dumped her body in a bayou.
- Department of Homeland Security sources said Peña crossed into El Paso, Texas, on May 28. He was released soon after his interaction with border agents.
- Jocelyn fought back against her attackers after she was lured under the bridge and assaulted — leaving scratch and bite marks on one of the illegal migrants who is accused of killing her.
- Peña was given an ankle monitor when he was released into the US after being caught at the border in May, according to Homeland Security sources. He reportedly cut off the monitor after Jocelyn’s body was found.
- Republicans slammed the White House for its “pathetic” and “shameful” statements on the killings of Jocelyn and Maryland mother of five Rachel Morin — which never mentioned they were murdered by illegal immigrants
He was fitted with an ankle monitor that was set to track his location for 21 days, which he cut off two days after Jocelyn’s body was found, Homeland Security sources said.
Rangel Martinez entered the country at El Paso on March 14 and was also given an ankle monitor but had it removed in May after it was determined he had no known criminal history.
Both suspects were seen on surveillance footage entering a 7-Eleven with Jocelyn on the night of her murder and then walking down to the bridge where the little’s girl body was later found.
Death under a bridge
Jocelyn’s family said she sneaked out of her home the night of her disappearance and at some point met up with the suspects.
Her mother, Alexis Nungaray, spoke alongside the district attorney on Monday, saying her daughter had amazing opportunities in her future that her killers ripped from her.
“She was amazing, I still see her face in the back of my head every day, all day. I keep getting little signs about her throughout the days, and it’s been a very, very hard time for me and my family,” Nungaray said.
“She had such a bright future ahead of her, and I knew she was gonna go very far, and these monsters took that opportunity from her, from our family,” the mother said. Nungaray previously said the suspects “took advantage” of her daughter.
A GoFundMe for her family quickly surpassed its $35,000 goal, drawing in more than $64,000 in donations by Monday.
The prime suspects’ status as illegal immigrants drew widespread attention — with former President Donald Trump weighing in to blame President Biden’s border policies for allowing the tragedy to happen.
“These monsters should never have been in our country,” Trump said of the suspected killers.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said the murder greatly affected him. “As a grandfather and a father, it doesn’t get any worse,” Whitmire said.
He said the accused killers must be kept behind bars, saying, “If there is any circumstance where you deny bail, this is it.”
Pena Ramos and Rangel Martinez had been living in a Houston apartment complex as roommates at the time of the killing.
Migrant crime wave
When police arrived they attempted to flee — with one even attempting to jump off a balcony — but were quickly arrested.
Investigators are still looking into whether Jocelyn was sexually assaulted during her murder but have not charged the suspects with sex crimes.
Jocelyn’s murder was just the latest frightening crime allegedly involving migrants who had recently entered the country illegally.
On June 13, Ecuadorian migrant Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi, 25, allegedly bound and gagged then raped a 13-year-old girl in a Queens park.
Inga-Landi entered the US at Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2021 and was ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge the following year but was never deported.
And earlier this month a suspect was arrested in the grisly 2023 rape and murder of Maryland mom of five Rachel Morin, who was walking on a popular trail.
That suspect, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, entered the country illegally from El Salvador sometime in the spring of 2023 before allegedly carrying out the murder.
