HOUSTON (AP) — Prosecutors in Texas announced Friday that they will seek the death penalty against two Venezuelan men who are accused of killing a 12-year-old Houston girl after they had entered the U.S. illegally.
The death of Jocelyn Nungaray was among several cases this year that became flashpoints in the debate over the nation’s immigration policies. Nungaray’s mother campaigned for President-elect Donald Trump, calling for better control of the border in the wake of her daughter’s death.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said her office would file an official court notice later Friday that prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26. Each man has been charged with capital murder for Nungaray’s June 16 death. Martinez-Rangel and Peña each remained jailed on $10 million bonds.
“Jocelyn’s murder was as vile, brutal and senseless as any case in my tenure as district attorney,” Ogg said in a statement. “And it was made worse by knowing that these two men were here illegally and, had they been held after being captured at the border, they would never have had the opportunity to murder Jocelyn and destroy her family’s future.”
A new district attorney, Sean Teare, will take over prosecuting the case as Ogg lost her reelection bid in November and is set to leave office at the end of the month.
Daniel Werlinger, one of Peña’s attorneys, said in an email that prosecutors had already notified defense lawyers last month about the decision to seek the death penalty.
“Today’s announcement by the outgoing District Attorney is old news,” Werlinger said.
Emails were sent seeking comment from attorneys for Martinez-Rangel.
Prosecutors allege the two men kidnapped, sexually assaulted and strangled the girl before leaving her body in shallow water below a bridge. Her body was found in a creek on June 17. A medical examiner concluded she had been strangled.
Martinez-Rangel and Peña had been arrested near El Paso by the U.S. Border Patrol after entering the country without documentation. Both were released and given notices to appear in court at a later date. Martinez-Rangel was apprehended by Border Patrol in March and Peña in May.
Republicans used Nungaray’s death and other cases in which immigrants who entered the country illegally were accused of committing violent crimes to criticize how President Joe Biden managed the U.S.-Mexico border during his administration. In another case, Jose Ibarra, a Venezuelan man, was sentenced to life in prison last month for the death of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley.
Trump has alleged that migrants have caused skyrocketing crime rate. Multiple studies show immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.
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