The roommate of the Hispanics accused of the murder of minor Jocelyn Nungaray in Texas was the one who reported them to the authorities after seeing security images in which the immigrants appeared.
Two days after the 12-year-old’s body was found in a creek in Houston, the roommate saw a surveillance video on the news that showed Johan José Martínez-Rangel and Franklin José Peña Ramos with the victim, according to a Houston Chronicle report.
The newspaper’s report says the roommate initially texted a relative saying he believed he was sitting next to the Nungaray killers.
The message was what led police to arrest the duo, the newspaper cited the arrest warrant as saying.
The New York Post report identifies the witness as Yohecfredder Rodriguez.
Rodriguez noticed the resemblance of his roommates to the men in the images when the three were watching television in the apartment on June 18, two days after the murder.
Images from surveillance cameras
The footage shows two men standing next to Jocelyn outside a 7-Eleven.
Authorities say Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Pena Ramos, 26, convinced the teen to walk to a bridge where they stripped her of her clothes and assaulted her for about two hours.
Rodriguez revealed that he knew the accused under the pseudonyms of “Gordo” and “Gordo’s cousin.”
According to the Hispanic, he moved in with them a day earlier, after meeting them while they were migrating to Mexico, and then they met again in the middle of construction work in Houston.
When he realized that the duo could be the ones that the authorities were looking for, the witness said he felt scared and didn’t know what to do, since he didn’t want Martínez-Rangel and Peña Ramos to notice him.
Rodriguez sent his cousin a photo of Martinez-Rangel and Pena Ramos at the Ojos Locos bar the night Jocelyn was killed, an image that he later deleted from his cell phone.
The suspects visited a bar before the murder
On June 16, Rodriguez picked up Martinez-Rangel and Pena Ramos and drove them to the business.
According to Rodriguez’s version, he left the place without them at around 10 p.m.
The next morning, Jocelyn’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, realized her daughter was missing.
On June 19, when Rodriguez realized the people in the surveillance footage might be her roommates, she made an excuse to leave the apartment and went to the Houston Police Department.
At the same time, the suspects’ boss also came to the department.
Peña Ramos allegedly admitted to him and another person that she had made a mistake after partying and hurt someone.
Jocelyn was raped before being strangled
This week it emerged that Jocelyn was sexually assaulted before being strangled.
The girl’s family confirmed to FOX 26 Houston on Tuesday that the girl was sexually assaulted.
The Venezuelans who crossed the border illegally face capital murder charges. It is unclear when they would be charged with sexual abuse.
Both were arrested on June 20.
The minor was uncovered from the waist down, and her hands and feet were tied.
Keep reading:
6 keys to understanding the case of the murder of Jocelyn Nungaray at the hands of 2 migrants in Texas
Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother called Hispanic migrants who murdered her daughter “monsters”
Undocumented immigrant accused of killing 12-year-old girl in Texas gets $10 million bail