Authorities say a 12-year-old girl from Houston, Texas was brutally raped, strangled and her body dumped in a creek.
The family of Jocelyn Nungarei, the minor who was killed after sneaking out of her home on Sunday night, is seeking justice, KENS 5 reported. report.
“They took my first child away. I was a teenage mother. She helped me grow and mature,” said Joseline’s mother, Alexis Nungarei. “She’s grown into a beautiful young woman.”
“I’m angry that they took advantage of her. She was so young, 12 years old. You took my baby and you took her,” the grieving mother said. “Now I have to let her brother know that his sister is never coming back.”
“You took my baby away and now I have to tell my baby brother that her sister is never coming back.”
– Mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nangaray
🎥 – Kou11 pic.twitter.com/9pxaVkkVOR
— Bobby Ellison (@BobbyEllisonKY) June 19, 2024
Jocelyn was last seen alive on security camera footage at a convenience store not far from the apartment where she lived.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said at a news conference that the girl had been on the phone with her 13-year-old boyfriend when she was inside the store.
“Apparently the last time he spoke to her was at a convenience store late at night. [and] “I heard her talking to two adults,” Whitmire said.
Breaking news regarding woman found at 400 West Rankin Road https://t.co/St4G5DVCrd
— Houston Police Department (@houstonpolice) June 17, 2024
Houston police on Thursday detained two men seen on surveillance video in connection to Jocelyn’s death, but it was not immediately clear whether they were the same men the victim’s boyfriend had spoken to on the phone.
Second Update: The two people pictured below were detained this morning and are currently being questioned about the incident.
There is no other information available at this time.
Any additional updates will be posted here. #HoNews https://t.co/f9qUwOo0et
— Houston Police Department (@houstonpolice) June 20, 2024
Click 2 A woman called 911 just after 6 a.m. Monday after noticing a child’s body in shallow water under a bridge on West Rankin Road in Houston. report.
“I was driving home from dropping my husband off at work and I happened to see her. I thought she was a mannequin,” Billie Jean Jackson told the outlet.
“How can they do this? How can they leave people there? You don’t see anything like this anywhere.”
The Harris County Institute of Forensic Science determined Jocelyn died from strangulation.
Mayor Whitmire said she was also raped.
“My sister, nephew and family deserve justice,” Jocelyn’s uncle, Joamel Guevara, told KENS 5. “We will not sleep until justice is served and these criminals are in the Harris County Jail. In God’s name we pray!”
“Josie was a smart, loving, caring young woman who lit up a room whenever she came in and was loved by all around her,” Guevara continued. “There was no reason for her to die the way she did.”
Alexis Nungarei said she doesn’t know why her daughter snuck out of the house on that fateful night.
Family Raise Money for funeral expenses GoFundMe.
