Texas prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the two Venezuelan illegal migrants accused of sexually assaulting and murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in June.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg appeared on Fox and Friends to make the announcement about the case, saying she “wants the country to know about it”:
“We’ll be filing notice by the state of Texas that we intend to seek the death penalty against Jocelyn’s murderers,” she told host Lawrence B. Jones on Friday, referring to 26-year-old Franklin Pena and 22-year-old Johan Martinez-Rangel.
“We are seeking death because we want the message out there, that regardless of who you are, but especially if you are illegally in this country, that you will face the same consequences as anyone else for murdering a child during the course of raping and kidnapping her,” Ogg continued.
The prosecutor added that she has spoken with Jocelyn’s family members, including her mother, Alexis Nungaray, and said they are “supportive” of this move.
“We feel that a Texas jury will sentence these two defendants, based on the evidence we have, to death,” Ogg continued. “So we’re giving notice today to the defense and the court that that’s our intention.”
Jones pointed out that because Ogg is a Democrat, some in her party may be “critical of this decision” — prompting her to slam her own party members’ “open border” policies.
“The Democratic policies of open borders have failed the American public. If the ‘Justice for Jocelyn Act,’ filed by Sen. Ted Cruz (R), or any of the policies that President-elect Trump is pushing, had been in effect then it’s likely that Jocelyn Nungaray would be alive today,” the district attorney stated.
“These types of horrific crimes committed by illegal immigrants crossing our border have to stop,” Ogg continued. “The family of Jocelyn is in a position that they never dreamed would happen to them. And I think it’s unfair for anybody with children to be subject to criminals committing horrific crimes that don’t have to happen.”
After Jones asked if she would “pledge” to work with President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming “border czar,” Tom Homan, Ogg said, “It’s about time we work with the border czar to stop the violent criminals from crossing into our state, killing our citizens, and raping and murdering children.”
“It’s got to stop, and I look forward to his new policies, to Trump’s policies, and to Sen. Cruz getting this very important legislation through Congress and the Senate.”
Search warrants revealed that Pena and Martinez-Rangel, who allegedly sexually assaulted and strangled Jocelyn in the early morning hours of June 17 after she snuck out of her mother’s Houston home, may be involved with the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
Border Patrol agents had apprehended Martinez-Rangel at the border near El Paso, Texas, on March 14 before releasing him into the United States that same day on an order of recognizance with a Notice to Appear (NTA) before a federal immigration judge at a later date.
Pena was also apprehended near El Paso on May 28 and released into the United States that day on an order of recognizance with an NTA — just 20 days before he allegedly helped murder Jocelyn, Breitbart News reported.
The 12-year-old’s grieving mom, Alexis Nungaray, joined Trump at his August campaign rally in Austin to say that her daughter was killed “due to the Biden-Harris policies”:
“They made her a target … and now I will forever be a grieving mother, and my son will forever be a grieving brother who will no longer get to grow up with his sister,” Alexis told the crowd.
