In Houston, two migrants from Venezuela have been arrested for the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was lured away from her home, strangled and dumped in a bayou.
A source said one of the suspects had crossed into the US illegally less than a month before the incident. However, he was freed from custody after saying he feared for his life if he were deported back to his homeland.
Police said the body of a 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was discovered this past Wednesday in a creek. Investigators were able to identify the two men from surveillance footage. On Thursday, Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26 were charged with two counts of capital murder.
Venezuelan citizen Pena Ramos crossed into El Paso, Texas on May 28, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Given his interaction with the border agents, he was to wear a GPS tracking device in order to track his movements until his court appearance on July 15. Whether the tracker was on him at the time of Jocelyn’s murder is not known.
Sources said the second suspect, Rangel Martinez, crossed on at El Paso on March 14 and was assigned an August court date. He was also to wear a GPS monitor, but it was taken off in May.
A Houston resident discovered Nungaray’s body in a swampy creek on Monday while driving past. The resident described that she thought the body was an inflatable mannequin.
“I did a U-turn, and I stopped on the bridge, put my flashers on, looked down, and realized it was someone. I parked right here and called 911 immediately,” she said.
Cops said the two migrants were busted in an apartment complex where they had been living together as roommates. The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the immigration histories of the suspects.
Alexis Nungaray, the victim’s mother, told news outlets that her daughter had sneaked out of their apartment after midnight on Sunday and that she was “taken advantage of” by her killers.
“I’m like angry that they took advantage of her. She was so young. She was 12, you took my baby away, you took her away. Now, I get to let her little brother know his older sister is never coming home,” she goes on to say.
