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EXCLUSIVE: The mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, a Houston girl allegedly killed by Venezuelan illegal immigrants in June 2024, recently spoke out in support of U.S. military action against suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) narco-terrorists.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday the U.S. military carried out a strike that killed 11 alleged TdA narco-terrorists on a drug boat in the southern Caribbean, demonstrating the administration’s continued efforts to stop dangerous narcotics from reaching U.S. shores.
“Taking down their drug boat [Tuesday] shows real strength, and I pray they keep going until every last one of these monsters is off our streets and out of our hemisphere,” Alexis Nungaray said.
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In a video produced by The American Border Story, a national initiative dedicated to exposing the human impact of America’s border crisis through storytelling and investigative reporting, Nungaray shared the devastating story of tracking her daughter’s phone to a skate park two minutes from their home.
She described being met by officers and crime scene tape where Jocelyn’s body was discovered.
“There’s already an officer walking in my direction before I even put my car in park,” Nungaray said. “I run out, and I’m like, ‘I’m looking for my daughter. [I] don’t know where she is. … I’ve checked everywhere. Her phone shows it’s here.’ He kind of walked me away from the direction of where the tape was, and he was like, ‘Oh, this is something else. … But just keep your phone on you nearby.’”
Homicide detectives later confirmed they found her daughter’s body. She had been sexually assaulted before her death.
“She left marks on them. She bit them. She left scratches,” Nungaray said. “She had broken nails. She had their DNA under her nails. I think when she knew she wasn’t going to make it out, she knew a way to help find them. It’s sad that she had to do that, but it’s a very courageous thing that she was able to do that at such a young age.”
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Jocelyn’s suspected killers were later identified as Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, both illegal Venezuelan nationals.
Pena was previously accused of raping an American woman vacationing in Costa Rica, and the pair were allegedly associated with TdA, a foreign terrorist organization.
Pena had TdA-related tattoos, and Martinez-Rangel’s social media account used emoji associated with the gang, according to search warrants obtained by affiliate FOX 26 Houston.
The men were caught by U.S. Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas, in early 2024, but released on their own recognizance under the Biden administration into the U.S. The murder happened just months after their illegal entry.
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After Jocelyn’s death, Nungaray said both men were arrested on capital murder charges in El Paso and quickly released back into the community. They have since been placed under immigration detainers as prosecutors seek the death penalty.
“The two men who took my daughter’s life away from her were not from here,” she said. “They were released because of Biden’s catch and release policy. They weren’t held until their detention immigration hearing. They were let go. … She should have never encountered them. She should have been able to make it home. She didn’t ask for her life to be ripped away from her.”
Nungaray added she believes unvetted immigrants have a different agenda than those who migrate to the country legally.
“It’s been kind of scary to know the kind of world we live in as Americans. … I still have another child. I was scared to know what could have happened to him if we hadn’t had [President] Donald Trump come into the presidency,” she said. “Just knowing the fact that he’s made so much change in so little time, it’s incredible. It’s incredible to know that there is somebody that wants to make a difference and that wants us to genuinely be safe as citizens.”
After learning Jocelyn was an animal lover, Trump signed an executive order in March renaming the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge the “Jocelyn Nungaray National Refuge,” in her honor.
“I just have an amount of serenity that reaches my soul when I’m there, and I just know that she’s fully there in spirit,” Nungaray said. “If she was here, she would probably ask to go camping there and say that’s her second home every weekend. She would want to go there every weekend and put up a tent. … She had a very big heart.”
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Nungaray said every time the Trump administration fights back against TdA and other narco-terrorist cartels, she feels a sense of justice for Jocelyn.
“My daughter was murdered by these same violent criminals who should never have been here in the first place,” she wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Unlike Biden, who let known illegals back onto our streets, this administration is taking action to stop them.”
Nicole Kiprilov, executive director of The American Border Story, added the Venezuelans should never have been on American soil.
“[Tuesday’s] strike against the Tren de Aragua drug boat shows that this administration is finally taking the fight directly to the cartels, unlike [former President] Joe Biden, who allowed these known illegals to walk free,” Kiprilov said.
“At TABS, we’re committed to making sure families like Jocelyn’s are never forgotten and that Americans see what real leadership against these narco-terrorists looks like.”
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