Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said he has told the mother of a 12-year-old Houston girl allegedly killed by two illegal immigrants that he hopes state lawmakers will pass a bill named after the victim to deny bail to certain murder suspects.
Patrick, a Republican, said he spoke with Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, after she was buried Thursday. Murder suspects Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, are each being held on $10 million bail.
“Jocelyn’s family is shocked that bail was granted in this case,” Patrick wrote on X. “I have told Jocelyn’s mother that I will not accept that the Texas Senate has once again passed bail reform and the House has killed the bill. This bill will be named ‘Jocelyn’s Law’ in her honor and will ensure that her name is never forgotten and that no death row inmate will ever be eligible for bail again.”
The suspected illegal immigrant accused of killing Jocelyn Nangaray was wearing an ice ankle monitor.
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)
“Joslin’s Law” would allow Texans to vote on a constitutional amendment that would automatically deny bail to anyone charged with murder that carries the death penalty.
“Jocelyn’s murder has reignited the movement to pass this constitutional amendment, and we sincerely hope that it will pass,” Rania Mankarias, CEO of Crime Stoppers of Houston, told Fox News Digital.
The state legislature is scheduled to convene on January 14, 2025.
“I will be introducing Joslin’s Law on the first day I can introduce legislation in the next legislative session,” fellow Republican state Sen. Joan Huffman wrote online.
Patrick blamed state Democrats and Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Republican, for killing a bipartisan bail reform bill introduced by Huffman. He cited SJR No. 44, a resolution introduced by Huffman that would have disqualified Martinez Rangel and Peña Ramos from posting bail.
Houston’s Mattress Mack pays for Jocelyn Nangaray’s funeral
Nungaray was buried last week, days after her strangled body was found in a Houston creek. Harris County prosecutors said Martinez Rangel and Peña Ramos, both Venezuelan nationals, lured her under a bridge on June 16 and sexually assaulted her before killing her.
Both men entered the United States illegally through El Paso, Texas, several weeks ago. A Harris County judge ordered them held on $10 million bail each.
“We don’t know the background of these people. Typically in criminal cases, some background data is available to allow the judge to make an appropriate risk assessment and determine the amount of bail and what to do with this person,” Mankarias said.
While the state Senate is looking at the bail issue from a public safety perspective, Mankarias said state Assembly members also appear to be looking at it with a “very nuanced approach” that is concerned about public safety but also tries to avoid putting undue burdens on criminal defendants.
“There’s a perception that judges are going to abuse this additional tool of denying bail, but we don’t think that’s the case,” she said. “There are so many egregious cases, and we’re not just seeing it in Harris County, but in every major city in the country. The criminal element there is like nothing we’ve ever seen before, and we have to address it.”
Bail for Jocelyn Nangaray murder suspect set at $10 million
This week, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nangaray was found strangled to death in a creek in Houston. (Courtesy of Fox Houston and the Nungarei Family)
Patrick said Joslyn’s Law would strengthen Lauren’s Law, named after 13-year-old Lauren Landavazo of Wichita Falls, and make the murder of a child under the age of 15 a capital crime.
Landavazo was shot and killed while walking home from school in 2016. Her killer, Cody Lott, is serving a life sentence and will be eligible for parole after 30 years.
Currently, the only crime punishable by death is the murder of a child under the age of 10.
Crime victim advocates in Texas have called for stricter bail laws for years, especially in certain cases involving violent crimes. Mankarias said that over the past few years, many offenders in Harris County have been released on low bail or even without bail, leading some to commit repeat offenses, sometimes violent ones.
Click here to get the FOX News app
“The courts at the time were very much inclined towards the idea that everyone deserves bail and that bail shouldn’t be punitive,” she said. “These past few years have been difficult for all of us who work in the system.”
