“We’ll be filing notice by the state of Texas that we intend to seek the death penalty against Jocelyn’s murderers, Pena and Rangel,” Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in an announcement on Fox and Friends. “Both were Venezuelan nationals. They had been captured while committing a crime, coming into this country illegally, and then, within days, murdering and raping Jocelyn Nungaray.”

“We are seeking death because we want the message out there that regardless 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,” Ogg said.

DA in Nungaray case seeking death penalty for alleged migrant killers of 12-year-old girl.

READ: https://t.co/VH5mV7j4MQ#texas #JocelynNungaray #Migrants #migrantcrime #murder #deathpenalty #viralvideo #viralvideos #explorepage #trending pic.twitter.com/K8Sh7jasjf

— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) December 13, 2024

Nungaray was found dead early in the morning of June 16 after she had snuck out of her home the previous night and encountered Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos.

They allegedly lured the young girl into a private area and then purportedly raped, strangled, and killed Nungaray before dumping her corpse into a creek.

Deciding to seek the death penalty was based on the strength of the evidence and the gruesomeness of the crime, according to Ogg.

“I’ve spoken to Alexis Nungaray multiple times along with her father,” she said. “Their family is supportive of this move. We don’t make the victim choose, our prosecutors determine what’s most likely, but we feel that a Texas jury will sentence these two defendants, based on the evidence we have, to death.”

Ogg is a Democrat but argued her party’s border policies have failed the public, she said.

If Republican policies, including the Justice for Jocelyn Act introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), had been in effect, the 12-year-old girl would likely be alive, according to the district attorney.

“These types of horrific crimes committed by illegal immigrants crossing our border have to stop. The family of Jocelyn is in a position they never dreamed would happen to them,” Ogg said. “I think it’s unfair for anybody with children to be subject to criminals committing horrific crimes that don’t have to happen.”

“If these fellas hadn’t been in our country, Jocelyn would be alive. If the Border Patrol had continued to keep them in custody, as Sen. Cruz’s bill would have required, Jocelyn would be alive. So what really gets at prosectors and gets to me about this case is that it was preventable,” the district attorney said.