Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - JOCELYN, 12, LURED FROM 7-ELEVEN, STRANGLED, UNCLOTHED IN CREEK: KILLER-SUSPECTS FACE DEATH PENALTY

Episode Date: March 29, 2025

Billie Jean Jackson is driving past the creek near 400 West Rankin Road and sees what she thinks might be a mannequin. The image was lifelike enough to make her turn around and check it out for sure. Getting a good look, Jackson realizes, it is not a mannequin and calls 911. On Sunday night, Jocelyn Nungaray's mother, Alexis reminds her not to stay up too late as Jocelyn is going to work with her mother in the morning.  Alexis tells Jocelyn goodnight at 10 pm and turns in for the night herself.  A little later when she is certain her mother is asleep, Jocelyn sneaks out of the house and goes to a local convenience store. It is around midnight when she calls her 13-year-old boyfriend, who says he hears Jocelyn talking to some adults before he hangs up the phone.  After talking to her boyfriend, Jocelyn is seen on camera at a local 7-Eleven convenience store.  In the pictures, Jocelyn Nungaray is seen with two other people, both adults.  It's possibly the same people with whom her boyfriend overheard Jocelyn talking. Around the same time Billie Jean Jackson is calling 911, Alexis Nungaray is preparing to wake up her 5-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn Nungaray. Finding Jocelyn gone, Alexis reportedly pings her daughter’s cell phone location, which traces the phone to a creek near 400 West Rankin Road Alexis Nungaray arrives at the spot where her daughter Jocelyn's phone pings and sees police tape is up and police are canvassing the area. Alexis Nungaray tells police her daughter is missing, and she is there because this is where her phone last pinged. Officers take down information from Alexis, but it still takes an hour before she receives the call that a body has been found, and it is possibly Jocelyn. Now  Harris County District Attorney's Office is seeking the death penalty  for both men. Joining Nancy Grace Today: Dr. Bethany Marshall – Psychoanalyst (Beverly Hills); X: @DrBethanyLive/ Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall; Appearing in “Paris in Love” on Peacock; BOOK: “Deal Breaker: When to work on a relationship and when to walk away” Michael Ybanez  – Former Houston Police Homicide Detective, Licensed Private Investigator Lynn Shaw - Founder and Executive Director of Lynn's Warriors Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth) and Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School Corley Peel- News Reporter for KPRC2 in Houston; Instagram: @KPRC2Corley,  X: @KPRC2Corley, Facebook: @KPRC2CorleyPeel  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last days, in the case of a 12-year-old beautiful little girl, Jocelyn Nungary, who loved Harry Potter, raped and murdered, the Harris County District Attorney announces she will seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing little Jocelyn. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg says her office will absolutely seek the death penalty against two men accused in the rape and murder of a 12-year-old little girl. Capital murder charges filed against 26-year-old Franklin Pena

and 22-year-old Johan Martinez Rangel, this after the two men allegedly raped and strangled the little girl, leaving her body in a shallow creek near her home under a bridge. And in the last days, Franklin Pena, one of the two men accused, appears in court. Jocelyn Nungary became a point of debate during the presidential election, but now the election is over and hard reality sets in. It's time for the state to prepare a trial. What happened to little Jocelyn? Jocelyn, just 12 years old, lured from a local 7-Eleven found strangled and unclothed, tied up in a creek. The Chief. We're here to share some very horrible news. Someone has taken one of our innocent children from us today.

A 12-year-old little girl found her this morning, and we believe somebody did this horrible thing to her, and we are here to ask for your help. I'm, like, angry that they took advantage of her. She's so young. She's 12. He took my baby away. Now I get to let her brother know her sister is never coming home that emotional video

of Jocelyn's mother from our friends at KHOU it all started when we heard this listen to find out if anybody knows anything anybody saw anything anybody can share that information

so we can figure out what happened to her exactly and we can find whoever did this and get them off the street. I've talked to this child's mother and of course she is devastated. Her family is devastated. Her little girl is gone. So we need your help. This little girl goes to bed when mommy goes to bed. A 12-year-old little girl, Jocelyn. Then she sneaks out. For what? To go about a block to the 7-Eleven and call her little boyfriend.

That's it. Just a phone call. She never came home. This is what more we know i'm going to talk to you about an incident that happened around 6 a.m this morning a citizen called 911 regarding a body seen in a shallow water of the bayou near 400 west rankin road in the houston's north belt area houston's homicide, along with the assistance of the Houston Department's dive team and the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office, were able to recover that body out of the shallow water there. Harris County's Medical

Examiner's Office is completing an official identification of the victim. That little 12-year-old girl has been murdered and we believe raped. By who? According to police, two illegal immigrants, also known as non-citizen migrants, one of them allegedly cutting off his ankle monitor after the murder. That's right. Let that sink in. One of them cutting off his criminal ankle monitor after the 12 year old little girl is murdered. So at the time, this little girl is stripped, tied up, kept under a bridge, being tortured for two hours, lured away from that payphone by these two, there's no other way to say it, animals. He's wearing an ankle monitor.

He's already committed a crime. There she is, thinking she's on a real adventure, sneaking to a payphone to call her little 13-year-old boyfriend to say goodnight. In the background, the little boyfriend hears adult voices, two adult voices. Who walks up to a little 12-year-old girl, lures her away only to rape and strangle her, strip her under a bridge and tie her up and then throw her half clothed body into a creek. These two, that's who, why are they even here? Joining me an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now, but have any of you had it with violent crime, especially on children, much less by illegal immigrants that

are not supposed to be here anyway? Why? Why are they here? Why are they lurking around unapprehended? And now this little girl is dead. Again, joining me in All-Star panel, but first to Corley Peel, investigative reporter, KPRC2 in Houston. Thank you for being with us, Corley. Start at the beginning. Go ahead. This tragic story starts when Alexis Nungere tucked her 12-year-old daughter, Alexis, in bed Sunday night, last Sunday. She was expected to go to work with her mother the next morning. So she said everything was normal. Nothing seemed unusual. She went to bed around 10 o'clock that night. And the next morning, she realized that her daughter was missing. So she gets in her car. She drives around the neighborhood looking for her. She starts pinging her daughter's phone.

And when she pings her phone, it takes her to the creek where she sees a crime scene and detectives. Corley Peel, that is every parent's worst nightmare. Because when I can't find the twins, my children, I just go look at Life 360 and I see where they are and they're where they're supposed to be. And I'm just imagining this mom and it was really early in the morning and Jocelyn, the 12 year old little girl was going with mommy to work that morning. And mommy told her that just before they went to bed, go to bed, go to bed. You got to get up early because you're going to work with me. And mommy goes to sleep.

This is what we know. Listen, Jocelyn Nungary is a helpful, bright, funny girl. At 12 years old, she helps her mother with her little brother. And at school, she's one of the most popular. On Sunday night, Jocelyn's mother, Alexis Nungary, reminds her not to stay up too late as Jocelyn is going to work with her in the morning. Alexis tells Jocelyn goodnight at 10 p.m. and turns in for the night herself. A little after 10 p.m., when she is certain her mother is asleep, Jocelyn sneaks out of the house and goes to a local convenience store. It's around midnight when she calls her 13-year-old boyfriend,

who says he hears Jocelyn talking to some adults before he hangs up the phone. Joining me, Dr. Bethany Marshall, renowned psychoanalyst, joining us from LA. You can find her at drbethanymarshall.com. Dr. Bethany, thank you for being with us. You know, I've actually heard people, horrible people, attacking the little girl and the mom. It was a couple of blocks away.

For what? Is she out dealing drugs? Is she out whoring around? Is she out joyriding, stealing a car, vandalizing, doing pot, doing anything wrong? No, she goes to call and say goodnight to the little boyfriend who's just 13 and he's at home with his parents. That's it. And some people have actually vilified it.

You know, a lot of people, not me, because I was afraid that I wasn't afraid of what my parents would do to me. I was afraid they'd be disappointed in me. I never snuck out. But I can't say the same for my brother and sister or anybody else I know that didn't sneak out and do something and actually get back in without getting caught. But I hate that. Bethany, will people do anything, come up with anything, fabricate anything to blame a victim? I think I know why they do it, because it isolates them from a crime like that'll never happen to me and my child. But this is a 12 year old little girl who was about to get up at the crack of dawn to go with mommy to work. Nancy, people are saying all kinds of horrible things,

like why did the mother go to bed before her daughter went to bed? Why did the little girl sneak out of the window? Why did she have a boyfriend? To put this in context, Nancy, by the time children are 12 years old, they are beginning a developmental trajectory where they will start to distance themselves from their parents sometimes and start to cling to their peers. They're preparing to leave home when they're 17, 18, or 19. It's how their brains are developing and growing. So that's why you see them always,

you know, wanting to play video games with other people or talk on the phone with their friends or look on social media. It's because their brains are programmed to do that. All she wanted to do was say goodnight to her little boyfriend. This is a 12-year-old child who was doing what 12-year-olds do. And she was from a normal family with a normal mother who was going to have a sweet day with her the next day, taking her daughter to work with her. Guys, this little girl sneaks out of the house to call the little boyfriend on her cell. She never makes it home.

Joining me, an all-star panel, Corley Peel joining us, KPRC2. Where was the mom working? Why was little Jocelyn going with mom to work the next morning? No, she didn't reveal that information as to exactly what they were going to do the next day at work, but she said they had just came back from a vacation that weekend. So, you know, she told her they were going to get up early. It was going to be a completely normal day for them, essentially, you know, it's summertime. She doesn't have school. So she was going to just tag along with her mom to work the next day. But it was just a heartbreaking, you know, situation to hear from

her mother. She was just, you saw those tears streaming down her face as she just pleaded for help, just in disbelief, disbelief as to this could happen to her 12-year-old daughter. So again, like we mentioned, a parent's worst nightmare. No one thinks that their child's not going to be there when they wake up in the morning. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. While there is a gag order imposed on the case's proceedings, meaning no one in the courtroom, including Jocelyn's mother, Alexis Nungary, can talk to the media, we still have learned that one of the two defendants, Franklin Pena, in court in the past days.

There was a DNA status update and more. Again, a very tight gag order on the proceedings. We also know that the death penalty to be sought against the two murder suspects has been announced. Jocelyn's mother stating it is, quote, the most justice possible. When you hear the facts, you may agree with her mother. Lynn Shaw, founder, executive director of Lynn's Warriors, committed to ending human trafficking and sexploitation, particularly of children. Lynn, when I read this story, I could barely contain myself. Just 12 years old.

I'm remembering my children at age 12, completely innocent, completely innocent. And this little girl all on board to go to work with mommy the next morning, never complaining, great grades. You saw her playing, I believe a cello. I mean, this is a perfect little girl. And to end like this, this horrible death. When I think of those two, one with an ankle monitor on, I mean, a lot of times, Lynn, we don't allow ourselves to think about the facts, the actual facts of what happened. We hear, oh, okay, little girl found dead in a creek under a bridge. And we stop right there. We don't follow that through, that chain of thought. But these two animals lured this little girl away from the 7-Eleven where she was using her cell phone. They lure her to a bridge area. I don't know when they started

forcing her there or not, but they're walking along with her like they're friends. They get her down under the bridge, strip her, tie her up, I believe rape her, and then strangle her and throw her body into this bayou. I mean, like she's trash, Lynn. Nancy, we work so hard with missing children, sex traffic children, labor traffic children. This story came across to me very early on. And I said to myself, I bet you it's very nefarious. I bet you it has something to do with our open borders. Let's call it what it is. I saw this story of a 12-year-old.

And for me to get tears in my eyes, I'm pretty hardened about all of this. I am tired of this, Nancy. I am tired of everybody making light of what's going on in America. We have on any given day, 2,300 children missing in the United States. There is more to this story, I believe, with the work we do than we're hearing about. First of all, I heard that she was with her boyfriend and went to a restaurant to meet these two. I heard that. Then I heard she was calling her boyfriend. Then I heard the Houston mayor say she was raped. Then it was walked back. Nobody else will say right now she was actually raped. They said that is pending the sexual assault. Well, I think when you are dumped in a creek with your pants missing and there's all of this, somebody with an ankle, I don't even call it an ankle bracelet. Why are they here in the first place?

Ankle bracelet equals illegal. They do not belong here. Kids have been jumping out their windows and doors for years, sneaking out of the house. Nancy, why did she go out of the house? Was there something online that was happening? Was the boyfriend urging her to meet him somewhere? We do not know, but I want questions. And I leave you with this. We have alarms now when somebody breaks in a home or a business. I'm calling for alarms when kids, anybody is breaking out. We live in a society now. We have to step up. This is the reality, dark and ugly. If a child's trying to leave a home,

an alarm will go off on a window or door. This is what we're faced with today. A 12-year-old little girl is lured away by two adult males that we now are two non-citizen migrants, aka illegal aliens. One still wearing an ankle monitor, lured under a bridge. She's found stripped, bound, and dead. strangled dead, then thrown into the water. Joining me, Michael Ivanez, former Houston police homicide detective, now PI at Y2 Investigations. Michael, thank you for being with us. You know, Lynn is right. No one will say they raped the little girl. Then why were her pants off? Why was she stripped? Why was she bound? Why are cops saying this much that she was held under the bridge for two hours at least?

Why? Why? Why all those circumstances? If she was not sex assaulted and then murdered. Can you imagine this child begging to go back home to mommy in the middle of the night, begging for them to leave her alone, begging to live and they strangled her anyway? Can you imagine that? That's what happened. That is what happened, Michael. Of course, Nancy, all those signs are indicative of sexual assault and you and I and common sense people, we probably know that the police are being cautious in what they tell you and what they release to the public to preserve their investigation.

They're trying to preserve it for court. And they don't want to they don't want to make any statement that might upset this case further down the road. Back to special guest joining us, Corley Peel, investigative reporter, KPRC2. Corley, what do we know about these two guys? I want to talk about them. Yeah, well, we've learned that they are originally from Venezuela. They've been living in Houston for about a month. That's according to neighbors who live at the apartment complex where they were arrested. We don't know a whole lot right now, but we do know that they were stopped by Border Patrol. Martinez was stopped, I believe, back in March near El Paso, and the other man was stopped

in May. So still a lot to unpack here about their background, but we do know that they were here in the U.S. illegally. Guys, this is what more we are learning. Incredible police work. I don't know if you recall Jennifer Dulos, the missing Connecticut mom of five. Her body has never been found, but due to a copious amount of blood in her garage, it has been determined that her husband, Fotis Dulos, and his girlfriend, his mistress, Michelle Chaconis, had a hand in her death. He murdered her. This mother of five goes missing, and what the local police do in conjunction with others is they put together a montage, okay, like a reel, a demo reel, okay, and they follow the perp or the victim through red light cams, through,

I remember in Jennifer Dulos, there was a public bus that opened its doors and you see the husband photos Dulos driving by in somebody else's car to get it detailed because Jennifer's DNA is all over it. They use traffic cams, tag grabbers, anything, toll bridges, anything with a camera, home security cam, and they put together a timeline in video. And I believe that is what the police very wisely did here. Listen. Our team has worked tirelessly tracking evidence in this case since the discovery of Jocelyn by a citizen on the morning of June 17th, 2024.

Because of the assistance of the area community and surveillance video that our officers have tirelessly tracked down and other evidence-series pieces, we have found and learned that the suspects began their evening at a Northboro area restaurant together. They left that restaurant on foot southbound. As we go to air right now, we learn a Senate committee is recommending expanding the death penalty eligibility for child murder under Senate Bill 990. Repeat, it would expand death penalty eligibility. This move was touched off by the murder of a 12-year-old little girl, Jocelyn Nungary. Currently, Texas law does not allow the death penalty for individuals convicted of killing children age 10 to 15. You heard me right. But Senate Bill 990 would eliminate the exemption, ensuring that all child murder victims are treated equally under capital punishment rules. Now, the fact that the

two men were charged not only with murder but with rape as well makes them eligible for the death penalty. However, this new bill, SB 990, seeks to remove, to discard the need for additional charges like rape or sex assault in order for the state to pursue the death penalty and child murder cases. During the committee hearing, testimony was given by family members of young victims, specifically the aunt of 11-year-old Arlene Alvarez, testified, stating it was, quote, sad we don't have this already in place. And it was hard for me to explain to Mr. Gonzalez that the death penalty wasn't on the table for a man that had no mercy on his daughter. Why are we having mercy on monsters? And more of what we know about the two defendants now charged with capital murder of a 12-year-old little girl.

Their movements. Listen. The suspects continued south and were first seen on a camera. And those are images that we released to you, to all of you and to the public. Suspects seen meeting the victim and talking for a few minutes while they were on Kirkendall. Later, the suspects and the victim walked together to a convenience store, and those images were also released to you guys and the public. After a few minutes, all three together walked to a bridge where ultimately Jocelyn was murdered.

Suspects continued south towards their residence after leaving Jocelyn there. Oh, they're totally busted. They are following them through various surveillance videos. They'll probably bring in cell phone pings, all sorts of digital proof to show it's these two guys that took Jocelyn, then forced her down under a bridge, very reminiscent of the two little girls in Delphi forced under a trestle bridge. Now who sees this little girl at the 7-Eleven? All she's doing is sneaking out to call her little boyfriend on her cell phone so mommy won't hear. Who sees this girl and thinks, hey, I'm going to rape her and murder her? Nobody except these two. I was asking earlier, what do we know about these guys? We know that they are Jose Rangel Martinez and Franklin Jose Pina Ramos, and they are both

here illegally. Ramos discovered crossing the border with a large group of migrants given a notice to appear in San Antonio court, August 29. What? He immediately disappears. We know Ibarra placed on a program, a ankle monitor program. He immediately cut off that monitor and disappeared. April 2023. Yeah, that's who's here. Both of them just disappear into the wind. We know of 53,000 to have disappeared under similar circumstances. Where are they? Maybe in your backyard. Joining me now is a renowned chief medical examiner out of Tarrant County. That's Fort Worth. Never like a business there. Dr. Kendall Crowns, who has performed thousands of autopsies, including on children. Lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. Dr. Kendall-Crowns, thank you for being with us.

Explain to me how an autopsy on this 12-year-old little girl, what do you do? So in a case of strangulation, you would still follow the same procedures of an autopsy that you usually do, an external examination, making note of any marked scars or tattoos, evidence of injury. Then an internal examination is performed where a Y-shaped incision is made and each organ is removed and dissected. But then a layered neck dissection will be done where each layer of the muscles of the neck are peeled back, looking for injuries.

And then the throat structures will be exposed, removed and evaluated. So looking at the hyoid bone, which is this U-shaped bone in your neck that can be broken in strangulation and the thyroid cartilage, which is a structure right above your windpipe that also is often broken in strangulation cases.

How will you determine Dr. Kendall Crowns whether or not the little girl had been raped? So an evaluation of her genitalia will be done looking at her vagina and anal orifices or the areas around it, looking for contusions, abrasions, tears, bruises, that type of injury. You can usually find that in rape cases. New surveillance shows 12-year-old Jocelyn with two unknown men at a convenience store in the dead of the night. And even now, online trolls are attacking the mom and the little girl. This 12-year-old little girl was doing nothing more than sneaking a cell phone call to her little 13 year old boyfriend at the nearby 7-Eleven. And she ends up dead, stripped, strangled,

and thrown into the water. Dr. Bethany Marshall joining us, renowned psychoanalyst out of LA. Dr. Bethany, what does the treatment of this little girl mean to you as it relates to the minds of the two perpetrators? Well, for one, I think she had three factors that they were looking for, availability, vulnerability and desirability. She's such a cute little girl. She's vulnerable. They can have their way with her, Nancy. And I think these guys wanted to have power and control over a female. They were full of rage. And Nancy, they may have done this before.

I mean, these two guys are acting in concert to terrorize, rape and do whatever they want to do. Remember John Lee Malvo? I mean, see John Alvin and John Allen Muhammad, where they they worked in concert to terrorize the D.C. area. They were full of rage. They came from another country. They wanted to come up against unsuspecting victims. I was thinking about that with these two, especially since they have a gang history. What were they really planning in that area that they had moved into. Did they want to prey on other unsuspecting victims? Were they hatching some plot? But definitely they chose this little girl because she's tiny. She's vulnerable. They could have their way with her. These monsters, they're not

going to come up against peers or somebody more powerful than them. Imagine what happens when they have to come up against the police or now they're being questioned or they have to answer to investigators. These guys are cowards, deep down homicidal cowards who only wanted their way with a little girl. It is so terrible and tragic. You know, another thing, Dr. Bethany Marshall, is these two, we now know, thanks to local police, and especially that detective, Stephen Hope, you were hearing earlier, that these two went out and were spotted at a restaurant, and they're caught on surveillance video at a restaurant having dinner. It's almost like they go out for dinner and a movie,

and they use up the little girl and just throw her away like they're throwing popcorn down at the AMC. That's how she's treated. Nancy, these animals have no regard for life. And when I heard about the restaurant, I was thinking, were they just sitting ordering hamburgers and french fries and talking about who they're going to murder? I would not be surprised if they were stirring it up and actually stimulating each other, because we know even with criminals who get out of jail, sometimes they emerge more frustrated and more ready to offend because of their incarceration experiences. And these guys have been roaming, you know, they go over the border, they're in it there, they interact with law enforcement. It's almost like there's this hatred and

vindictiveness building up inside of them, this sense that the world is against them, that they have to assert power somewhere. And remember, it's rumored that they have a criminal background, a gang background, which tells me that they've been in an environment where there's socially sanctioned sociopathy so that not only are they criminals, sadists, rapists on their own, but they've been a part of a society where men do this kind of thing, Nancy. So this becomes a perfect storm, which is the reason why they should not have been here, because we don't really have this in our country, where it's a perfect storm of men who are misogynist, who hate women, who want to rape, torture and kill, just because everybody else thinks it's a perfect storm of men who are misogynist, who hate women, who want to rape, torture, and kill

just because everybody else thinks it's okay and they're stirring each other up. You know, Lynn Shaw with me, founder of Lynn's Warriors, committed to ending mistreatment of children. Lynn, I'm just thinking about the way they so callously throw her body in that bayou we've shown you and just walk away, probably laughing.

And the image which police have given me because they're spotted on video at a restaurant having a great time and then they leave. And like I was telling Dr. Bethany, like going to dinner and a movie for the rest of us. That's a big night out. And instead they go for dinner and then they go get this little girl. And they're stoking each other as they go. Very often people will do things as a group that they wouldn't do on their own. But these two are like minded. And I've given this example before, Lynn Shaw. If you're out for

a walk on a nature trail or in a park and you see a little rabbit go by, I bet your first instinct is to maybe pet it or feed it, where others instincts would be to grab it and tear its neck out and eat it. A predator. And when they saw this little girl, can you imagine all the glances the two of them exchanged with each other? They knew what they were going to do as they walked to that bridge, as they forced her to go under the bridge. At any point, they could have stopped Lynn, but they didn't. They went so far as to tie her up, strip her under that bridge,

I believe, rape her, and then strangle her, most likely manually with their own hands. And then to top it off, throw her into the water like she's trash, Lynn. Nancy, Dr. Bethany hit the nail on the head the way she described the mindset. We work with law enforcement, these criminal members of this gang from Venezuela. It's called Trendy Aragua. They have no regard for human life at all. I don't even want to compare them to animals. That is too kind. I don't want to put that on animals. They have no regard for girls and women in particular. They take what they want. I don't even know put that on animals. They have no regard for girls and women in particular. They take what they want. I don't even know if they planned this. They just saw her. She's a slight little girl. They may have asked her directions, I read, and she said, okay, I'll

show you this way. They lured her somehow, and they just had the opportunity. I want to repeat, these people are not here legally. They have, we work extensively with law enforcement. They have no regard for women and girls. They think that they are just property, they're to be raped, robbed, beaten. And I'm not understanding why all this is allowed, allowed to go on. We know all this. We know what is going on. These are called also ghost criminals. They may come and have an ankle monitor. They're cutting them off. Nobody's following up and doing further vetting. And they're disappearing all over our country. And I guarantee you, I guarantee you, this is my opinion. They have done this before. They have

raped and robbed women before and perhaps even murdered. Oh, gosh, yes. Michael Ivana is joining us, former Houston police homicide detective, now PI, owner of Y2 Investigations. Michael, this is not their first crime. And I don't mean stealing a car or jury writing or theft by shoplifting or smoking a joint. No, no, no. There's a big leap between any of those crimes and kidnapping a little girl, forcing her under that bridge, raping and murdering her. Oh, no, no, no, no. This is by far not their first violent crime. Nancy, I think you're going to find in the investigation

that they probably have a DNA link to other crimes here in the Houston area or around the country. Who knows? But let me tell you this, Nancy. I know Houston Police Chief Satterwhite personally. I know the lead homicide investigator personally. These two men are bloodhounds. And with their experience, they're not going to let this case go away. Even though they've been arrested and charged, the investigation is just beginning. They have to go and confirm and reconfirm every

bit of information that they followed on that digital trail, on the eyewitnesses, on the medical examiner's report. They have to completely, completely put a case together to make sure these animals do not get out. Absolutely. And they're going to do that. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. In the last days, in the case of a 12-year-old beautiful little girl, Jocelyn Nungary, raped and murdered. The Harris County District Attorney announces she will seek the death penalty against the man accused of killing little Jocelyn. It's time for the state to prepare a trial.

What happened to little Jocelyn? Listen. Investigators determine the two men lure her into going under the bridge on West Rankin Road, keeping Jocelyn for over two hours. They take her pants off and tie her up. Jocelyn dies from strangulation before she is thrown into the bayou where her body is found. After throwing the body into the bayou, Ramos and Martinez are seen walking back toward the apartment they share. Police believe the pair live in the same apartment complex as Jocelyn Nungery. Just strolling back. They're on video. Just strolling back. It reminds me of the guy that murdered Rachel Morin, according to the DNA found on her body. He attacked a nine-year-old little girl in L.A.

before he murdered Rachel in Bel Air, Maryland, based on DNA. And he didn't even run from the scene. He's caught on a door cam in L.A. He just walks out without a shirt on and just walks away like, hey, you know, that was nothing. No big deal. I mean, Dr. Bethany Marshall,

I don't think you're getting my question. The way they threw away the little girl like she was a chewing gum wrapper. Just throw her away. After that, just throw her body half stripped, tied up, strangled. Just throw her in the water. And now we know casually walk off. I'm telling you, this was no more than them going to the movie and having dinner. That was it. This was nothing to them. And they casually stroll back to their apartment. They don't even run. Nothing. No, no, no. Several things about this story bother me so much. This little girl, Jocelyn, grew up with a mother in a society in a neighborhood where she was taught that the world is a safe place.

Unlike Venezuela, unlike Haiti, where the two missionary kids, David and Natalie, were just murdered by gang violence. There are certain societies, Nancy, where homicide is socially sanctioned, where it's rampant, where people do feel that this is what society has come to. And when those societies infiltrate our society, our kids who believe that the world is a safe place continue doing what they normally do, not realizing that there are predators around them. And then the other thing that's strolling back to their apartment, Nancy, they strangled her. And that means that they were looking into the eyes and into the face of a 12-year-old little girl, watching her struggle, taking delight, taking pleasure. I mean, if you really just soak that in, who does that to a 12-year-old?

Who rapes a 12-year-old who may not even know about sex yet? I mean, the intrusion into this little girl of the most horrifying, unimaginable circumstances for which she was completely unprepared and not even knowing what to do. And Nancy, yeah, they just toss her into the river. It's beyond disregard for human life. It's sadism. It's river. It is it's beyond disregard for human life. It's sadism. It's thrill. It's hatred.

It's wanting to undermine the youth and beauty of such a beautiful member of our society. It's really horrible. When I first started prosecuting violent crimes, the judge would instruct a jury, if the evidence supported it, on flight as indicia of guilt. Now, in most jurisdictions, the judge doesn't instruct a jury that flight can be used as an indication of guilt, but the prosecutor can still argue it. And in this case, you want to tell me they didn't do it? Because when H.P.D., Houston P.D. shows up at the apartment complex where these two illegals live and they get a bullhorn, a loudspeaker, and they order the men to come out, what do they do? One of the guys tries to jump off a balcony. 4 a.m. But wisely, Houston PD,

and this detective is really something else, this Stephen Hope guy, they have the whole place surrounded. There you go. Jumping off a balcony to Corley Beale joining us, investigative reporter, KPRC, to there in Houston. Really? I mean,

if a cop knocks on your door, do you try to run out the back and jump off a balcony? Absolutely not. And it was really interesting because we were out there that morning. We didn't see that time of the rest just afterwards when they were placed in handcuffs. But a lot of the neighbors out there told me that they didn't really interact with those men too much. They'd only lived at that apartment complex for maybe a month, two months. I think the only time they really saw them out

was a barbecue that happened a couple of weeks prior. But they didn't have many details about what those men were like or if they seemed suspicious at all. So definitely concerning if they're trying to run from police. They took away my firstborn. A mom pleads for killers to be brought to justice after a 12-year-old little Houston girl, Jocelyn, secretly and nefariously came into our country to do nothing but wreak havoc. They were not here, according to the Statute of Liberty, seeking a new life. They came here to continue a life of violent crime. And it's not the first

time. Does the name Laken Riley ring a bell? Because I'll never forget the name. Listen. In Athens, Georgia, nursing student Laken Riley is late returning from a jog at the University of Georgia campus and her roommate becomes concerned. Searching the area she would jog, her body is found in Oconee Forest Park near Lake Herrick. Riley's body is found covered in brush, and she's been killed by blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. A sketch of a possible person of interest leads investigators to Jose Antonio Ibarra. Ibarra is from Venezuela, entered the USA illegally with a fake wife, was sent to New York, left his fake wife, and ended up in Athens, Georgia with his brother. Ibarra now facing murder charges in the killing of Lakin Riley. His fake wife. And what about Lizbeth Medina?

When high school cheerleader Lizbeth Medina doesn't join her team for the Christmas parade, her mother races home to see why. In the bathroom, Jacqueline Medina finds her daughter in the bathtub dead, stabbed to death. Police track suspicious activity on Lizbeth's missing cell phone, leading them to Rafael Gouveia Romero, 23, illegally in the United States of America from Mexico. Investigators determined he's been stalking Lizbeth Medina and was on probation at the time of her murder. And then he stabs her dead. And mommy has to find her daughter dead in the bathtub when she's supposed to be in a Christmas parade. That's how she found out.

Mommy races for more to see her daughter in the parade, not wanting to miss a thing. And the daughter's not there. So she races home to find her daughter dead. When will it end? I can't control what Congress is doing. You know, that's like yelling out the window on Third Avenue. But what I can do is ask for help in this case to make sure these two are convicted. 713-308-3600. Repeat, 713-308-3600. Help us build this case.

We wait as justice unfolds. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.