Jim McIngvale, also known as Mattress Mack throughout the Houston area, will be paying for the funeral of Jocelyn Nungaray, after she was allegedly killed by two illegal immigrants. The service will be held Thursday and McIngvale plans to have a celebration of Nungaray’s life at one of his Gallery Furniture locations.
Venezuelan nationals Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26 were charged by Harris County prosecutors with capital murder. According to reports, the suspects lured Nungaray under a bridge where they sexually assaulted her for two hours before killing her via strangulation.
Ramos was wearing an ICE ankle monitor at the time of the supposed murder.
“She would have gone to the same high school two of my children graduated from had she made it that far. This is obviously a gut-wrenching story. So, I was more than happy to take care of the funeral arrangements,” McIngvale told Fox News Digital. “Regardless of how you feel about migrants — illegal or legal — if they wouldn’t have been here, she would still be alive.”
Nungaray’s death is the latest in a string of violent crimes around the country attributed to illegal immigrants. Houston Mayor John Whitmire is worried about the capacity of Harris County’s criminal justice system to effectively prosecute those responsible.
“We’re going to be watching you; the arrests have taken place, and the charges have been filed. Now, we want the justice system to do its job. If there was ever a circumstance where you do not give someone bail, this is it,” he said at a news conference.
Both men are currently being held on a $10 million bail.
The wait for a murder case to go to trial in Harris County can take years, said McIngvale.
“The families have to go to five or six hearings as they postpone, postpone, postpone, and there’s the perpetrator laughing and yucking it up with his family and his lawyers,” he said. “He’s probably out on bail. It’s just madness.”
McIngvale, known for his charitable acts, ripped Harris County prosecutors who he accused of being softer on criminals, in sharp juxtaposition to neighboring Montgomery county that has a track record with picking up the slack left by soft law enforcement.
“They’ve got footage of these criminals being chased by the police to Montgomery County. And they get to Montgomery County, and they turn around and go back to Harris County,” McIngvale said. “They want to be arrested in Harris County.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) urged for Martinez and Ramos to be prosecuted to death if found guilty.
“This is horrifying. If guilty, both of these men should receive the death penalty for this horrible crime,” Cruz wrote last week on X. “These men are illegal aliens and Jocelyn Nungaray would still be alive and with her family if not for Joe Biden’s open border policies. The Biden administration is directly responsible. My heart goes out to Jocelyn’s family.”
