One of the two illegal Venezuelan migrants accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray appeared in court Monday, as horrific new details about her death emerged.
He and his roommate, Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21 – another Venezuelan migrant – are accused of raping and killing Jocelyn, and disposing of her body in a Houston bayou.
Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, appeared in court with his hands cuffed in front of him as he faced capital murder charges for the girl’s death.
HOW THE PRETEEN WAS MOLESTED
The suspects then allegedly lured Nungaray under a bridge, where they stripped her naked to the waist and sexually assaulted her for two hours, according to court documents.
Ramos and Martinez also allegedly bound Nungaray’s hands behind her back during the assault, then strangled her and dumped her body in the bayou.
She would be found by a passerby hours later, with her feet also bound and her back covered in cuts.
Ramos later confessed to police that he had kissed Jocelyn that night, but blamed other parts of the assault and her death on his roommate, Harris County Assistant District Attorney Megan Long said in court.
She and other prosecutors now claim Rangel grabbed Jocelyn around the neck, got on top of her and put his hands over her mouth in an apparent effort to stop her from screaming.
HE DISGUISED
Martinez allegedly shaved his beard to avoid detection in the aftermath, and just two days after Nungaray’s body was found, police say Ramos cut off an ankle monitor he was fitted with when he crossed the border illegally at El Paso on May 28.
The discarded ankle monitor was found last Wednesday NewsNation reported.
HOW HE WAS ARRESTED
He also allegedly asked his employer at a construction site for extra cash so he could skip town.
But the boss instead contacted police, and Ramos was arrested, according to the Houston Chronicle.
COURT RULING
In court on Monday, Judge Josh Hill set Ramos’ bond at $10 million – double what prosecutors recommended and 10 times the amount sought by the defense.
The judge declared that Ramos was an ‘astronomical’ flight risk, and the chances of him returning to court with a lower bond would be ‘near zero.’
