Migrant charged with murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was released into US just weeks ago
Police in Houston have arrested two migrants from Venezuela for the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was lured away from home, then strangled and dumped in a bayou.
One of the suspects crossed the border illegally less than a month before the shocking murder, and was released into the US after claiming he feared for his life if he was sent back to his home country, sources told The Post.
Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, were charged Thursday with capital murder.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources said Pena Ramos crossed into El Paso, Texas, on May 28. He was released soon after his interaction with border agents.
He told authorities that he planned to live with his cousin in Houston until his court appearance in July, sources said.
Agents put a GPS tracker on Pena Ramos, which was only set to monitor his location for 21 days, sources said.
It’s unclear whether he was wearing the tracker when Jocelyn was murdered.
The second suspect, Rangel Martinez, crossed the border at El Pas on March 14 and was released with a court date in August, sources said.
He also had a GPS monitor, but was removed from the program in May, according to the sources.
Investigators identified the suspects from surveillance footage, after they were seen following Jocelyn as she walked into a local convenience store.
Her body was found in a swampy creek on Monday by a Houston resident who happened to be driving by. She told KTRK-TV she thought the girl was a floating mannequin at first.
“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.
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
The two migrants were arrested at a local apartment complex, where they had been living as roommates, cops said.
Homeland Security has opened an investigation into the suspects’ immigration histories.
The victim’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, said her daughter sneaked out of their apartment late Sunday.
She told local outlet KHOU 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 said.
“She turned into a beautiful, beautiful young lady,” Alexis said. “I was really looking forward to seeing how she was gonna be and they took every opportunity away from me and my family.”
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said Thursday that the Jocelyn’s murder affected him personally.
“As a grandfather and a father, it doesn’t get any worse,” Whitmire said.
“If there is any circumstance where you deny bail, this is it.”
Authorities in Houston are still investigating whether Nungaray’s killers sexually assaulted her.
Nungaray’s story follows a slew of high-profile crimes tied to migrants who entered the country illegally, including the rape of a 13-year-old girl in a Bronx park last week.
The suspect in that case, a migrant from Ecuador, crossed into Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2021 and was ordered removed by an immigration judge the following year, The Post recently revealed.
However, he was never deported.
The man recently charged with the rape and murder of Maryland mom-of-5 Rachel Morin is a Salvadoran alleged gang member who crossed into the US three times in two months and was booted — before apparently entering undetected on his fourth try.
