Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, one of two illegal immigrants from Venezuela facing murder charges in the death of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray of Houston, appeared in court again on Wednesday, a day after Nungaray's mother testified before a congressional committee on immigration crime.
The defense and Harris County prosecutors fought over the scope of a potential gag order in the case, but Judge Josh Hill ordered the defense to follow the state's professional ethics rules.
In two court filings Tuesday, prosecutors also asked the judge for permission to view all of Rangel's Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs Border Protection records. The defense did not object, and the judge granted the request.
Biden-Harris open border policy illegally lifted 3 weeks before Jocelyn Nangaray's murder, mother says
Johan Jose Martinez Rangel is accompanied by his lawyer, an interpreter and a deputy as he appears in court on charges of his involvement in the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nangaray, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, in Houston. (Pool)
Rangel and Franklin Pena were arrested on murder charges in July and authorities said they had entered the United States illegally shortly before the murder.
The prosecution stated the charges frankly in its bail application after the arrest.
“In this case, the defendant lured a 12-year-old girl under a bridge, remained with her and an accomplice for more than two hours, then removed her pants, tied her up, killed her, and threw her body into the bayou,” Assistant District Attorney Michael Abner wrote in June.
The guilty plea came a day after Nungaray's mother testified before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, laying out a terrifying series of events and calling on lawmakers to secure the border.
Biden-Harris Border Crisis: Victims of Illegal Immigrant Crimes Testify at House Hearing
Alexis Nungaray finishes speaking at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the impact of illegal immigration crime, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. Nungaray's 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn, was kidnapped and murdered near her Houston home after two Venezuelan illegal immigrants were arrested on murder charges. (House of Representatives Judiciary Committee)
Police said Jocelyn had left her parents' home in the middle of the night to buy a soda, but Rangel and Pena had picked her up from the convenience store. She never returned home.
“The morning of Monday, June 17th, was terrifying,” the mother told the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. “I woke up to find out my child was missing, frantically searched the area just two minutes from my home, my cell phone was ringing, I drove to the location, saw the crime scene tape and officers by the bridge.”
Jocelyn Nangaray, 12, was found strangled to death in a creek in Houston. (Courtesy of Fox Houston and the Nungarei Family)
She said officers at the scene had no answer, but 45 minutes later she got a call from police telling her to come downtown.
“I'm still holding out hope that my 12-year-old daughter is out there somewhere,” she said. “They took me to a floor that said homicide.”
Nungarei told the commission on Tuesday that the suspects pushed her daughter off the bridge because they thought the stream downstream would shed their DNA.
Illegal immigrant charged with murder, rape, kidnapping: shocking week of crime across the US
Patty Morin (right) testified before the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., about border policies and her daughter's death in Harford County. Alexis Nungarei (left) testified about her daughter's murder in Houston. (Jeff Barker/Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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Franklin Jose Peña Ramos (left) and Johan Jose Martinez Rangel are charged with murdering Jocelyn Nungaray on Monday, June 17, in Houston, Texas. (Harris County Jail)
“Due to the Biden-Harris Administration's open border, capture and release policy, they were enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention Program,” Nungarayi told lawmakers, “which means they were released into the United States. It was less than three weeks later that they took the life of my daughter, Jocelyn Nungarayi.”
Rangel is scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 11.
