Who is Jocelyn Nungaray? What We Know About Texas Girl’s Murder

Police in Houston, Texas have apprehended two men in the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray.

The suspects — Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26 — are both charged with capital murder in the killing of Nungaray, whose body was found in a north Houston creek around 6:15 a.m. Monday (French time).

Police said at a news briefing that surveillance video reviewed by investigators showed Martinez and Ramos meeting Nungaray at a convenience store before the three walked toward the bridge where she was killed. The girl sneaked out of her apartment the night before she died, police added.

“It was a horrific scene,” Houston Police Department (HPD) Acting Chief Larry Satterwhite told reporters at the press briefing Thursday afternoon.

Police said the results of the sexual assault examination of the victim were still awaited. Medical examiners previously determined Nungaray’s cause of death was strangulation.

Who are the suspects? What we know

HPD Lt. Stephen Hope said Martinez and Ramos were arrested Thursday morning as part of a joint effort by officers from the Houston SWAT team and HPD’s Gang, North Belt and Homicide divisions.

The suspects were found at an apartment complex at 13355 Northborough Drive, less than a half-mile from where Nungaray’s body was discovered, near 400 West Rankin Road.

Hope said additional evidence linking the suspects to the murder was found inside the apartment where the men were staying.

“It was through the hard work of my police officers, my teams, the media and the community at large that we were able to achieve this,” Hope told reporters at Thursday’s press briefing. “And I’m very proud of everyone who participated.”

Police said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) launched an investigation into the citizenship status of Martinez and Ramos. According to some reports, including those from Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin, both suspects are of Venezuelan descent and entered the United States illegally.

News week cannot independently verify these reports, and Houston police directed all questions regarding the suspects’ status to the Department of Homeland Security.

An email was sent to HSI Thursday evening for further information.

Several Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, reacted to reports about Martinez and Ramos’ citizenship status, blaming President Joe Biden’s administration.

“We are witnessing yet another murder of migrants by Biden. It will only get worse, and it’s all the fault of crooked Joe Biden,” Trump wrote in a message published Thursday evening in Truth Social. “It’s a disgrace to the office of the president, it’s a disgrace to America. I can’t wait to see him at the mock debate on Thursday. Let him explain why he allowed MILLIONS of people to entering our country illegally!”

On one of Trump’s final days in the White House in January 2021, the outgoing president signed an executive order protecting more than 145,000 Venezuelan migrants from deportation, writing that the “deteriorating situation” in Venezuela warranted the aid was granted, the Associated Press reported. Press.

In contrast, in October 2022, Biden invoked a Trump-era rule, Title 42, to deny Venezuelans entering the United States illegally the opportunity to seek asylum. This decree stipulated that all Venezuelans who enter the United States “between ports of entry, without authorization, will be returned to Mexico,” the media added.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee expected to face Trump in November as the two men vie for re-election, has faced immense pressure from both sides of the aisle to address the increase in migrant encounters on the southern border in recent years. Trump has repeatedly claimed that increased migration to the United States has also led to an increase in violent crime across the country. Studies have shown that non-U.S. citizens are less likely to commit crimes than those who are naturalized.

Representative of the Republican Party of Texas Wesley Huntingwhose district includes part of Houston’s northwest suburbs, also blamed the White House following reports of Nungaray’s death.

“An absolutely heartbreaking story coming from Houston,” Hunt wrote to X, formerly Twitter. “Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, was found strangled and raped in a Houston creek. Her killers were two illegal aliens from Venezuela.”

“REMINDER: Joe Biden opened this border on the first day of his presidency,” continued the MP. “REMINDER: 13 months ago we passed the Border Security Act that would have ended this invasion. 211 House Democrats VOTED NO.”

“American children are being massacred by animals because Biden will not stop the invasion,” he added. “The blood of all these innocent victims is on his hands.”