Killing of Jocelyn Nungaray

Last updated

Killing of Jocelyn Nungaray
Location North Houston, Texas, U.S.
DatePast 10 PM on Sunday, June 16, 2024
Body found at 6:15 AM on June 17, 2024
Attack type
 Child homicide by strangulation
VictimJocelyn Nungaray, aged 12
Motive Sexual gratification
Accused2
Charges

On June 16, 2024, Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old American girl, was killed in North Houston, Texas. The case attracted national attention, as two illegal immigrants from Venezuela were charged with her murder. [1] Authorities found her body the next morning in a creek in North Houston, and determined she had been raped and murdered by strangulation. [2] Texas prosecutors have indicted the suspects on charges of capital murder.

Contents

Prelude

United States Border Patrol apprehended Johan José Martínez-Rangel near El Paso on March 14, but he was released that same day, on an order of recognizance, with a notice to appear in court at a later date. U.S. Border Patrol arrested Franklin José Peña Ramos on May 28, also near El Paso, but he was also released with a notice to appear in court at a later date. [3]

Killing

Nungaray snuck out of her house at 10 PM on June 16. [4] The two accused men had started their evening at a restaurant. While walking, they met Jocelyn on Kuykendahl Road, and talked to her for a couple of minutes. [5] According to court documents, they were asking her for directions. The three then walked to a convenience store. After a few minutes, they walked together to a bridge, where Jocelyn was strangled. Court documents allege that the three of them were under the bridge for over two hours, during which Jocelyn was tied up and had her pants taken off. [3] Results from the Houston Forensic Science Center showed that the victim was sexually assaulted before her death. [6] Early in the morning on June 17, police received a call about the discovery of Nungaray's body lying in a ditch near her home. [7]

Two suspects, identified as 22-year-old Johan José Martínez-Rangel and 26-year-old Franklin José Peña Ramos, were arrested on Thursday, June 20, at 13355 Northborough Drive at the Canfield Lakes Apartments. [3] Both were charged with capital murder. [8] Police released surveillance images of the two suspects; their roommates, one of which was Peña's boss, reported them to the police. [9] [10] Martínez-Rangel had bite and scratch marks on his arms at the time of his arrest. [11]

Court proceedings

Houston Mayor John Whitmire had wanted both defendants to be held without bail indefinitely; on Tuesday, June 24, bond was set at $10 million for Peña. [12] [13]

In the bail hearing on June 23, the Harris Country Assistant District Attorney stated that Peña had told police that he had kissed the victim, but that Martínez-Rangel was responsible for the murder and assault. Martínez-Rangel appeared in court the next day, and admitted to tying the victim's legs together and ordering Peña to throw her into a nearby creek. Both men were scheduled for a September 2024 return date to court. [10]

Ogg stated that the two suspects were not eligible for the death sentence under Texas law due to the victim's age; however, if it was found that Nungaray was kidnapped or raped, both would be eligible for the death sentence. [14] In September 2024, the suspects were charged with kidnapping and aggravated sexual assault of Nungaray. [15]

Reactions

Texas Governor Greg Abbott called for the death penalty for the two accused. [16] Donald Trump blamed President Joe Biden for the death of Nungaray, claiming that Biden's immigration policy had led to her death. The Biden administration expressed their condolences to the Nungaray family. [7] Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated that the murderers of Nungaray would be held accountable. [17]

Nungaray was indirectly mentioned by Trump in the first 2024 presidential debate against Biden on June 27. [18] [19] [20] Her funeral was held on the same day. Houston businessman Jim McIngvale paid for Jocelyn's funeral. [21] [22]

Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick announced that he would introduce a law to block bail for capital murder suspects, named "Jocelyn's Law". [23] Texas Senator Ted Cruz announced the "Justice for Jocelyn" act in July 2024 that would introduce harsher measures against undocumented immigrants. [24]

Senator Ted Cruz mentioned Jocelyn Nungaray by name at his RNC speech on July 17. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim McIngvale</span> American businessman

James Franklin McIngvale, also known as "Mattress Mack", is an American businessman. He is known for owning and operating the Gallery Furniture retail chain, based in Houston, Texas.

FamilyTreeDNA Commercial genetic testing company

FamilyTreeDNA is a division of Gene by Gene, a commercial genetic testing company based in Houston, Texas. FamilyTreeDNA offers analysis of autosomal DNA, Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA to individuals for genealogical purpose. With a database of more than two million records, it is the most popular company worldwide for Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA, and the fourth most popular for autosomal DNA. In Europe, it is the most common also for autosomal DNA. FamilyTreeDNA as a division of Gene by Gene were acquired by MYDNA, Inc., an Australian company, in January 2021.

Ivory Brandon Harris, known as B-Stupid, is an American gangster from New Orleans, Louisiana, who gained notoriety when police accused him of committing murders in Houston and New Orleans. Following a 2006 arrest and 2007 plea deal, he is incarcerated in the federal prison system as of 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MS-13</span> Transnational criminal gang

Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, is an international criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles, California, in the 1980s. Originally, the gang was set up to protect Salvadoran immigrants from other gangs in the Los Angeles area. Over time, the gang grew into a more traditional criminal organization. MS-13 has a longtime rivalry with the 18th Street gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramsey Unit</span> Prison farm in Texas

The W. F. Ramsey Unit is a Texas Department of Criminal Justice prison farm located in unincorporated Brazoria County, Texas, with a Rosharon postal address; it is not inside the Rosharon census-designated place. The prison is located on Farm to Market Road 655, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Farm to Market Road 521, and south of Houston. The 16,369-acre (6,624 ha) unit is co-located with the Stringfellow Unit and the Terrell Unit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of violence against LGBTQ people in the United States</span>

The history of violence against LGBTQ people in the United States is made up of assaults on gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender individuals, legal responses to such violence, and hate crime statistics in the United States of America. The people who are the targets of such violence are believed to violate heteronormative standards and they are also believed to contravene perceived protocols of gender and sexual roles. People who are perceived to be LGBTQ may also be targeted for violence. Violence can also occur between couples who are of the same sex, with statistics showing that violence among female same-sex couples is more common than it is among couples of the opposite sex, but male same-sex violence is less common.

Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets is an American true crime television series on the Investigation Discovery Network. The program is different from other true-crime series because the murders are portrayed from the omniscient point-of-view of the victim using "fictionalized dialogue". While the all-seeing narrator knows who was responsible, the series allows viewers to piece together who is the culprit based on clues from investigators, family and friends as each story unfolds. Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets has been compared to the 2009 film The Lovely Bones in which a 13-year-old girl is murdered and views from heaven as her family copes with the tragedy. The program is known as I Was Murdered in the United Kingdom, and at the beginning of the third season, which began airing in 2013, the show adopted that title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Killing Fields</span> Location in Texas, scene of 30+ murders

The Texas Killing Fields is a title used to roughly denote the area surrounding the Interstate Highway 45 corridor southeast of Houston, where since the early 1970s, more than 30 bodies have been found, and specifically to a 25-acre patch of land in League City, Texas where four women were found between 1983 and 1991. The bodies along the corridor were mainly of girls or young women. Furthermore, many additional young girls have disappeared from this area who are still missing. Most of the victims were aged between 12 and 25 years. Some shared similar physical features, such as similar hairstyles.

On July 9, 2014, a mass shooting occurred in a home located in northern Harris County, Texas, near the Spring census-designated place, a suburban area of the Greater Houston area, leaving six family members dead, four children, and a lone survivor. Ronald Lee Haskell, 34, was apprehended after a standoff that lasted several hours. Haskell was related to the victims via his ex-wife.

The murder of Darren Goforth refers to the shooting death of a ten-year deputy sheriff of the Harris County Sheriff's Office on August 28, 2015. Goforth, who was in uniform at the time, was killed by Shannon Miles, a repeat offender with a history of mental illness, who shot Goforth repeatedly in the back of the head with a .40 caliber handgun while Goforth was fueling his car. Miles' mother provided an alibi, but the police found the murder weapon in his garage, and he pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty; he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in September 2017.

In 2002, a crime spree involving the murders of two women and one teenage girl occurred in the East End area of Houston, Texas. The three perpetrators were two adult men and one teenage boy: Edgardo Rafael Cubas Matamoros, a Honduran citizen; Walter Alexander Sorto, a Salvadoran citizen; and Eduardo Navarro, a 15-year-old boy at the time of the crimes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Irsan</span> Jordanian-American convicted murderer

Ali Mahmood Awad Irsan is a Jordanian-American convicted murderer held on Texas death row. He was sentenced for the murders of Iranian-American activist Gelareh Bagherzadeh, a friend of one of his daughters; and his son-in-law, Coty Beavers, in Greater Houston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murder of Patricia Alatorre</span> California murder case

Patricia Jocelyn Alatorre was a teenager from Bakersfield, California, who was raped and murdered after disappearing on July 1, 2020. Alatorre and her killer met through social media and shared explicit photos of themselves, with the suspect convincing Alatorre to meet up on two occasions. On the second meeting, Alatorre was raped and strangled to death, with the killer having sex with the body before burning it. Armando Cruz was arrested after police found a white pick up truck similar to the one used during the kidnapping. Alatorre's rape and death has been described by the Bakersfield Police Department as one of the worst missing children cases they have ever had.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Waller killings</span> 2012 familicide

The 2012 Waller killings, also known as the Sesler family murders took place on March 20, 2012, when Trey Eric Sesler, a 22-year-old YouTuber, shot and killed his parents and older brother in Waller, Texas. He had planned to perpetrate a school shooting at Waller High School after murdering his family. Police were called to the family home at 1 p.m. the same day and found the bodies of his mother Rhonda Sesler, his father Lawton Sesler and his brother Mark Sesler. Investigators say that Sesler was heavily inspired by the Columbine High School massacre.

On February 15, 2024, 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham disappeared while traveling to her school bus stop in Livingston, Texas, United States. Her case gained national and significant media attention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Killing of Laken Riley</span> 2024 homicide case in Athens, Georgia

On February 22, 2024, Laken Riley, a 22-year-old Augusta University nursing student, was killed while she was jogging at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. Her body was found in Oconee Forest Park near Lake Herrick; her death was caused by blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.

References

  1. ↑ Sources:
    • Homer, Michelle; Whitfield, Stephanie; Jacobo, Victor; Bragg, Trason; Wilson, Lea (June 21, 2024). "ICE: Men charged with capital murder in Houston girl's death entered US undocumented". KHOU. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
    • Wiley, Jessica (June 22, 2024). "Vigil honors 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray who was murdered and found in creek in north Houston". ABC13 Houston. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
    • Humble, Ahmed (June 23, 2024). "Jocelyn Nungaray to be laid to rest Thursday in north Houston, public invited to attend service". KPRC. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
    • Marley, Ronnie (June 20, 2024). "JOCELYN NUNGARAY MURDER: 2 men charged in 12-year-old's death in Houston". FOX 26 Houston. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  2. 1 2 Planas, Antonio (June 22, 2024). "2 men accused of strangling 12-year-old in Houston are charged with capital murder". NBC News . Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Jones, Luke (June 21, 2024). "12-year-old girl tied up, pants taken off when she was strangled, records allege". ABC13 Houston . Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  4. ↑ Acosta, Nicole (June 21, 2024). "Cause of Death Revealed for Jocelyn Nungaray, 12-Year-Old Texas Girl Found Slain in Creek". People Magazine. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  5. ↑ Homer, Michelle; Miles, Jason; Galvan, Jaime E. (June 24, 2024). "Men charged with killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray aren't eligible for death penalty but that could change". KHOU.
  6. ↑ "12-year-old girl found in creek had been sexually assaulted, Houston Forensic Science Center says". ABC13 Houston. July 1, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  7. 1 2 Nagovitch, Paola; Colomé, Carla Gloria (June 26, 2024). "The killing of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray: Trump's latest weapon against migrants". EL PAÍS English. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  8. ↑ "2 men arrested in strangulation of 12-year-old Houston girl whose body was found in a creek". AP News. June 20, 2024. Archived from the original on June 23, 2024. Retrieved June 23, 2024.
  9. ↑ Turner, Sammy (June 29, 2024). "Man accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray confided in boss, court documents say". KHOU. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Limehouse, Jonathan (June 26, 2024). "Jocelyn Nungaray timeline: After 12-year-old girl's body found, two charged with murder". USA Today . Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  11. ↑ Rahming, Devon; Homer, Michelle (June 25, 2024). "Jocelyn Nungaray case: Here is what co-defendant Peña told investigators about Martinez-Rangel". KHOU. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  12. ↑ Ferguson, John Wayne (June 24, 2024). "Judge sets $10M bail for one of two men accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  13. ↑ Washington, Chad (June 24, 2024). "One of 2 suspects in the death of Jocelyn Nungaray gets $10 million bond". CW39 Houston. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  14. ↑ Galvan, Jaime E.; Homer, Michelle (June 26, 2024). "Who is Jocelyn Nungaray, 12-year-old Houston girl found strangled?". KHOU . Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  15. ↑ McClenagan, Kyle (September 16, 2024). "New charges of sexual assault, kidnapping filed against suspects accused of murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray". Houston Public Media.
  16. ↑ Goodman, J. David (June 25, 2024). "Killing of Texas Girl Becomes a New Immigration Flashpoint". The New York Times . Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
  17. ↑ Flores, Rosa; Andone, Dakin; Weisfeldt, Sara (June 26, 2024). "Houston 12-year-old's killing becomes focus of immigration debate as 2 undocumented migrants are charged with capital murder". CNN. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  18. ↑ Terry, Christian (June 28, 2024). "Donald Trump says he spoke with mother of Jocelyn Nungaray before presidential debate". KPRC. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  19. ↑ Gutierrez, Gabe; Lebowitz, Megan (June 22, 2024). "Death of 12-year-old girl in Texas fuels Trump-Biden debate on immigration". NBC News. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  20. ↑ Ferguson, John Wayne (June 29, 2024). "Trump attacks Biden on immigration, invoking killing of Houston 12-year-old". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  21. ↑ Zdanowicz, Christina (June 27, 2024). "A 12-year-old who loved Twilight, Harry Potter and old music: What we know about Jocelyn Nungaray and the men accused in her death". CNN. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
  22. ↑ Johnson, Octavia (June 27, 2024). "Jocelyn Nungaray's GoFundMe reaches more than $80K, Mattress Mack tells public to keep donating". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  23. ↑ Grunau, Sarah (June 28, 2024). "Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick vows to propose 'Jocelyn's Law' after 12-year-old's alleged killers granted $10 million bond". Houston Public Media. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  24. ↑ Saavedra, Ninfa (July 11, 2024). "Sen. Ted Cruz introduces new act honoring Jocelyn Nungaray that would enforce detention, tracking of illegal migrants". KPRC. Archived from the original on August 16, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.