One of two illegal Venezuelan immigrants accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray appeared in court Monday, as horrific new details emerged about her death.
Franklin José Peña Ramos, 26, wore a yellow jumpsuit with his hands cuffed in front of him as he faced capital murder charges in the girl’s death.
He and his roommate, Johan José Rangel Martínez, 21, another Venezuelan migrant, are accused of raping and killing the preteen and disposing of her body in a Houston swamp.
“Our immigration system is broken, and if there was ever a case that reflected that, this is it,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said at a news conference after the bond hearing Monday.
Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, appeared in court for a bond hearing Monday.
He, right, and Johan José Martínez Rangel, left, face murder charges in the death of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray.
Prosecutors say the two men, who lived in the same apartment complex as Nungaray, followed her to a nearby 7/11 shortly after she sneaked out of her home on June 16 and asked her for directions.
While in the store, Nungaray called her 13-year-old boyfriend, who then reported that he heard her talking to two adults.
The suspects then allegedly lured Nungaray under a bridge, where they stripped her to the waist and sexually assaulted her for two hours, according to court documents. obtained by Fox 26.
Ramos and Martinez also allegedly tied Nungaray’s hands behind her back during the assault, then strangled her and dumped her body in the swamp.
Hours later she would be found by a passerby, also with her feet tied and her back covered in cuts. Click on 2 reports from Houston.
Ramos and Martínez allegedly assaulted Nungaray (pictured) for two hours before strangling her and disposing of her body.
Ramos later confessed to police that he had kissed Jocelyn that night, but blamed other parts of the assault and her death on her roommate, Harris County Assistant Prosecutor Megan Long said in court.
She and other prosecutors now claim that Rangel grabbed Jocelyn by the neck, stood on top of her and covered her mouth with his hands in an apparent effort to keep her from screaming.
Martinez allegedly shaved his beard to avoid detection later, and just two days after Nungaray’s body was found, police say Ramos cut off an ankle monitor that was fitted to him when he illegally crossed the border in El Paso on March 28. May.
The discarded ankle monitor was found last Wednesday NewsNation reported.
He also allegedly asked his employer for extra money at a construction site so he could get out of town.
But the chief contacted police and Ramos was arrested. according to the Houston Chronicle.
Ramos was arrested after allegedly asking his boss for more money so he could leave town
Martínez, another Venezuelan migrant, will face his own bail hearing on Tuesday.
In court Monday, Judge Josh Hill set Ramos’ bail at $10 million, double what prosecutors recommended and 10 times the amount requested by the defense.
The judge declared that Ramos was an “astronomical” flight risk and that the chances of him returning to court on a lower bond would be “almost zero.”
He noted that, as a new migrant to the area, Ramos had no ties to Houston.
He was released into the country after telling border patrol officials that he feared for his life if he was returned to Venezuela and claimed he was going to live with a cousin in Houston, sources said. The charge.
Instead, Ramos became roommates with Martinez, who also entered the country illegally on March 14 and was fitted with an ankle monitor. His was removed in May, after Border Patrol determined he had no known criminal history.
Both men now face capital murder charges and could be sentenced to the death penalty if the ongoing investigation reveals evidence that Nungaray was sexually assaulted or kidnapped, District Attorney Kim Ogg said.
Martinez is due to face his own bail hearing on Tuesday, and prosecutors are once again urging the judge to also set his bail at $10 million. according to Local 21.
Alexis Nungaray, Jocelyn’s mother, called the suspects “monsters”
The Nungaray family appears consoling each other at Monday’s hearing.
Nungaray’s mother, Alexis, has criticized the accused killers as “monsters” who took away her daughter’s future.
“She was amazing, I still see her face in the back of my head every day, all day,” Alexis said of her daughter at a news conference after Monday’s bond hearing.
‘I keep getting little signs about her throughout the day and it has been a very, very difficult time for me and my family.
“She had such a bright future ahead of her and she knew she was going to go very far, and those monsters took that opportunity from her, from our family,” she said.