Migrant accused of raping and murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray appears in court as new horrific details emerge

One of the two illegal Venezuelan immigrants accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray appeared in court Monday as new, horrific details about her death emerged.

Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, wore a yellow jumpsuit and his hands were handcuffed in front of his body as he was charged with capital assault on the girl.

He and his roommate, 21-year-old Johan Jose Rangel Martinez – another Venezuelan migrant – are accused of raping and killing the minor and dumping her body in a Houston bayou.

“Our immigration system is broken, and if there was ever a case that reflects that, this is it,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Monday at a news conference following the bail hearing.

Prosecutors said the two men, who lived in the same apartment complex as Nungaray, followed her to a nearby 7/11 store on June 16, shortly after she sneaked out of her home, and asked her for directions.

At the supermarket, Nungaray called her 13-year-old boyfriend, who later reported that he heard her talking to two adults.

The suspects then allegedly lured Nungaray under a bridge, where they stripped her naked to the waist and sexually assaulted her for two hours, according to court documents obtained by Fox 26.

Ramos and Martinez are also said to have tied Nungaray’s hands behind her back during the attack, then strangled her and thrown her body into the bayou.

Hours later, she was found by a passerby. She was also tied up and her back was covered in cuts, reports Click 2 Houston.

Ramos later confessed to police that he had kissed Jocelyn that night, but blamed his roommate for other parts of the assault and her death, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Megan Long said in court.

She and other prosecutors now claim that Rangel grabbed Jocelyn by the neck, lunged at her and put his hands over her mouth, apparently in an attempt to prevent her from screaming.

Martinez reportedly shaved off his beard to avoid being discovered later, and just two days after Nungaray’s body was found, police say Ramos cut off an ankle bracelet that had been placed on him when he illegally crossed the border near El Paso on May 28.

The discarded ankle bracelet was found last Wednesday, NewsNation reported.

He is also said to have asked his employer at a construction site for additional money so that he could leave the city.

But instead, the chief contacted police and Ramos was arrested, the Houston Chronicle reported.

In court on Monday, Judge Josh Hill set Ramos’ bail at $10 million – double the amount recommended by prosecutors and 10 times the amount requested by the defense.

The judge said Ramos posed an “astronomical” risk of flight and the likelihood of him returning to court with a lower bail was “close to zero.”

He pointed out that as a new immigrant to the area, Ramos has no ties to Houston.

He was released into the country after telling border guards he feared for his life if he was sent back to Venezuela and claimed he was living with a cousin in Houston, sources told The Post.

Instead, Ramos became a roommate of Martinez, who also entered the country illegally on March 14 and was fitted with an ankle bracelet. His was removed in May after Border Patrol determined he had no known criminal record.

Both men now face capital crimes and could be sentenced to death if the ongoing investigation reveals evidence that Nungaray was sexually assaulted or kidnapped, District Attorney Kim Ogg said.

Martinez faces his own bail hearing on Tuesday, and prosecutors are again urging the judge to set his bail at $10 million as well, Local 21 reports.

Nungaray’s mother Alexis described the alleged murderers as “monsters” who had robbed her daughter of her future.

“She was incredible, I still see her face in the back of my mind all day every day,” Alexis said of her child at a press conference Monday following her bail hearing.

“I get little signs about her all day long and it’s been a very, very difficult time for me and my family.”

“She had such a bright future ahead of her and I knew she would go far, and these monsters took that chance away from her, our family,” she said.