Kim Ogg, the outgoing district attorney for Harris County, announced that her office will pursue the death sentence against two men who are suspected of sexually assaulting and killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray.
Days after Nungaray was reportedly raped, strangled, and her body placed in a small stream close to her home, 26-year-old Franklin Pea and 22-year-old Johan Martinez Rangel were charged with capital murder in June. According to court filings, the males were charged with aggravated sexual assault and kidnapping in September.
According to the DA’s office, it will notify Judge Josh Hill’s 232nd District Court on Friday that it intends to pursue the death penalty in this case. According to the DA’s office, notice will also be sent to Pea, Martinez Rangel, and their lawyers.
“Jocelyn’s murder was as vile, brutal and senseless as any case in my tenure as district attorney,” Ogg stated 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.”
Detectives with the Houston Police Department have stated that they believe Nungaray left her family’s apartment covertly at around 10 p.m. the night before her death was discovered in the creek.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) verified shortly after her death that the two males had entered the nation close to El Paso without being inspected, granted parole, or admitted by immigration officials. The murder has since attracted national attention.
RELATED: Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother, 12, appears before Congress and calls for more border legislation
Since her daughter’s murder, Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, has been a strong supporter of tighter border controls, frequently siding with Republican leaders like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and President-elect Donald Trump.
By the end of this year, Ogg will have served her second and last term as district attorney. One of her former prosecutors, Sean Teare, who defeated Ogg in the Democratic primary in March and defeated Republican Dan Simons in the general election in November, will succeed her.
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