Two men from Venezuela who came to the United States illegally are being charged with the murder of a 12-year-old girl from Houston who was found choked to death in a creek this week.
The Houston Police Department said Thursday that Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, are wanted for the capital murder of Jocelyn Nungaray. They were linked to her death.
Some people from the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Pena Ramos crossed into El Paso, Texas, without permission in May. Agents from the Border Patrol caught him and let him back into the U.S. with a Notice to Appear in court.
In March, Rangel Martinez also broke the law and went into El Paso without permission. He was caught by Border Patrol. He was let into the U.S. for no clear reason.
Fox News Digital has asked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more details about the suspect’s status but has not yet heard back.
“It’s just an overwhelming sense of relief to know they’re not out there,” Alexis Nungaray, Nungaray’s mother, told Fox Houston.
Houston police Lt. Stephen Hope said that security video was used to see where Martinez and Ramos went before and after the killing.
This week, Houston Mayor John Whitmire said that Nungaray had snuck out of her family’s apartment and was now at a grocery store talking on the phone with her 13-year-old boyfriend. The man told the police that he heard Nungaray talking to two other people.
In the evening of Sunday, police say Martinez and Ramos met at a diner.
Police said they were seen on camera as they left the restaurant and walked south. After that, they were seen getting together with Nungaray and having a short conversation with her. After that, Rangel Martinez, Pena Ramos, and Jocelyn walked to a 7-Eleven corner shop.
This week, the police shared pictures from a surveillance video from the 7-Eleven where Nungaray was last seen.
After that, the three of them walked to a bridge, which is where police say Nungaray was killed. Police say Rangel Martinez and Pena Ramos then left the girl’s body behind as they walked to the apartment they shared. Police think that the two of them lived in the same apartment building as Nungaray.
Alessandra Nungaray said her daughter might have seen the two of them, but she didn’t know how to talk to strangers.
“Perhaps they were seen in the complex, but she wouldn’t walk around alone,” she told the news station.
The medical examiner for Harris County said that Jocelyn died from being strangled. The police were not sure if the girl had been sexually attacked.
Whitmire said that the court system needs to do its job and make sure that both suspects are tried as soon as possible after they are arrested.
“We’re going to keep an eye on you; people have been arrested and charges have been brought.” Right now, we want the law to do its job. He said, “If there was ever a time when you shouldn’t give someone bail, this is it.”
Source: FOX News
