{"id":109703,"date":"2026-01-03T18:27:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/109703\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T18:27:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T18:27:12","slug":"who-is-jocelyn-nungaray-houston-girl-mentioned-during-trump-speech-on-venezuela-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/109703\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Jocelyn Nungaray? Houston girl mentioned during Trump speech on Venezuela strike"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jocelyn Jocelyn Nungaray: Forever 12<\/a> <\/p>\n

One year ago, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was brutally raped and murdered in Houston. Her killing fueled a nationwide rallying call and outrage centered around illegal immigration. It also raised questions around bond reform. It sparked efforts to ensure that a death like this never happens again. We take a look back at the case, her mother’s quest for justice and what changes have been made.<\/p>\n

HOUSTON – During a press conference regarding the US’ strike on Venezuela<\/a>, a Houston 12-year-old was mentioned as a victim of suspected Venezuelan gang members who came into the country illegally.<\/p>\n

MORE: Trump says US will ‘run’ Venezuela after Maduro captured<\/a><\/p>\n

Who is Jocelyn Nungaray? \"\" <\/p>\n

The backstory:<\/p>\n

Jocelyn Nungara<\/a>y was a 12-year-old girl from Houston.<\/p>\n

Nungaray went missing overnight in June 2024. She was later found dead in a shallow creek near her family’s apartment.<\/p>\n

INITIAL REPORT: Rankin Road death: Body of 12-year-old girl found in creek, police asking for help<\/a><\/p>\n

Two men were later arrested and charged with capital murder: Franklin Pena and Johan Martinez. Both are accused of bringing Nungaray under a bridge, assaulting her, killing her, and throwing her body into a bayou.<\/p>\n

\n Featured\n <\/p>\n

‘IT’S AN EYE FOR AN EYE’: Prosecutors seek death penalty for suspects in Jocelyn Nungaray murder case<\/a> <\/p>\n

Prosecutors have announced their intention to seek the death penalty against Franklin Pena and Johan Martinez-Rangel, accused of the brutal murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray. Jocelyn’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, supports the decision, seeing it as a justified response to the heinous crime. The suspects, illegal migrants from Venezuela, are charged with murder, rape, and kidnapping, and their trial is scheduled for February.<\/p>\n

It was later learned that both suspects were in the U.S. illegally<\/a> from Venezuela. Search warrants then claimed the two were possibly members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Texas prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both suspects.<\/p>\n

Click here for the latest on the Jocelyn Nungaray case.<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump renames wildlife refuge after Jocelyn \"President <\/p>\n

Dig deeper:<\/p>\n

President Trump’s mention of Jocelyn Nungaray on Saturday was not the first time.<\/p>\n

During his joint address to Congress in March, the president announced<\/a> the renaming of Texas’ Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge to the Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Chambers <\/p>\n

He talked about Jocelyn’s love for animals and signed an executive order directing the name change.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jocelyn’s mother, Alexis, was present during the president’s address and said the announcement in her daughter’s honor was a surprise.<\/p>\n

MORE: Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge renaming ceremony held<\/a><\/p>\n

The Source: Information in this report comes from previous FOX 26 Houston reporting.<\/p>\n

Crime and Public Safety<\/a>Houston<\/a>U.S.<\/a>Donald J. Trump<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jocelyn Nungaray: Forever 12 One year ago, 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was brutally raped and murdered in Houston. Her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1046,7810,56,58,57,223,391,216,393],"class_list":["post-109703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-crime-publicsafety","tag-donald-j-trump","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-news","tag-people","tag-tx","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}