A pair of illegal aliens accused of murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston, Texas, last month are also now accused of sexually assaulting her as forensic examiners reveal new details about the case.
As Breitbart News reported, Venezuelan illegal aliens 22-year-old Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and 26-year-old Franklin Pena — both released into the United States from the southern border — were charged with murdering Jocelyn Nungaray in the early morning of June 17.
On Monday, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office unveiled the findings from an examination of Jocelyn’s body conducted by the Houston Forensic Science Center. The findings confirm that Jocelyn was sexually assaulted before her murder.
The murder charges alone against Martinez-Rangel and Pena did not make them eligible for the death penalty, but the Harris County District Attorney’s Office has said a sexual assault charge added to each suspect could change that and require them to be held without bail.
Martinez-Rangel and Pena are each being held on a $10 million bail.
On June 17, the day she was murdered, Jocelyn’s body was found in a creek near a bridge. She was nude from the waist down, with her hands and feet bound together, and had cuts all over her backside.
Prosecutors say Martinez-Rangel admitted to tying up Jocelyn’s hands and feet and instructed Pena to dump her body into a creek under the bridge. An autopsy found that Jocelyn was strangled to death.
At the time of his arrest, prosecutors say Martinez-Rangel had scratches and bite marks on him they believe could be from a struggle with Jocelyn. After allegedly dumping the girl’s body in the creek, Martinez-Rangel sought to avoid arrest by shaving his beard and researching how to flee the United States, prosecutors allege.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, Border Patrol agents had apprehended Martinez-Rangel at the border near El Paso, Texas, on March 14. The same day, he was released into the United States interior on an order of recognizance with a Notice to Appear (NTA) at a later date before a federal immigration judge.
Border Patrol agents apprehended Pena near El Paso on May 28 and released him into the U.S. interior that day on an order of recognizance with an NTA — just 20 days before he allegedly helped murder Jocelyn.
The House Homeland Security Committee has since found that Pena and Martinez-Rangel were released at the border from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) custody, even as ICE had thousands of detention beds available at the time of their releases.
ICE agents have placed a detainer on each of them, requesting custody if they are released from jail at any time.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.