A Texas grand jury last week indicted two suspects in the June murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nangaray in Houston.
According to Harris County court records, Franklin Pena, 26, and Johan Martinez Rangel, 22, have been charged with murder in their roles in Nungaray's death.
According to the documents, Peña and Martinez-Rangel kidnapped a 12-year-old girl and killed her by placing her in a neck restraint.
Prosecutors are seeking certain information from Google after authorities found a mobile phone in the water near Nungarei's body. Further examination of the phone revealed that Google applications had been downloaded and prosecutors are seeking information about those applications.
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)
Prosecutors are also seeking information about the suspects' first contact with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Authorities charged Rangel and Franklin Pena, both illegal immigrants from Venezuela, with murder in July. Entered the US illegally Just before the murder.
Jocelyn Nangarey (Getty Images)
Prosecutors said Jocelyn left her mother's apartment on the evening of July 17 to buy a soda at a convenience store, at which point the suspects abducted her from the store.
“In this case, the defendant lured a 12-year-old girl under a bridge where he and a co-defendant remained with her for over 100 hours. [two] He spent hours stripping her pants and tying her up. And then he killed her.and dumped her body in the bayou,” Assistant District Attorney Michael Abner wrote in June.
Jocelyn Nangaray, 12, was found strangled to death in a creek in Houston. (Courtesy of Fox Houston and the Nungarei Family)
Jocelyn's mother testified before the House Homeland Security Committee last week about the impact of illegal immigrant crime on Americans.
“The morning of Monday, June 17th, was terrifying,” the mother told the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, three days before a grand jury handed down indictments against the two suspects. “I woke up to find my child missing, frantically searching the area just two minutes from my home, my cell phone was ringing, then I drove to the location and saw the crime scene tape and officers by the bridge.”
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)
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.
“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.
