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Judge sets $10M bond for 2nd Venezuelan man accused of killing 12-year-old girl

Johan Jose Rangel-Martinez is led into the courtroom on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Houston. Cap ...
Johan Jose Rangel-Martinez is led into the courtroom on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Houston. Capital murder charges have been filed against Johan Jose Rangel Martinez and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, in the strangulation death of the 12-year-old. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Johan Jose Rangel-Martinez, one of the two men accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, ...
Johan Jose Rangel-Martinez, one of the two men accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, is led from the courtroom by deputies on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Houston. Capital murder charges have been filed against Johan Jose Rangel Martinez and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, in the strangulation death of the 12-year-old. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
This booking photo provided by the Houston Police Department shows Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel. ...
This booking photo provided by the Houston Police Department shows Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel. Prosecutors filed capital murder charges Friday, June 21, 2024, against two men, Martinez Rangel and Franklin Pena, who are suspected of killing a 12-year-old Houston girl whose body was found in a creek after she disappeared during a walk to a convenience store. (Houston Police Department via AP)
Johan Jose Rangel-Martinez, one of the two men accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, ...
Johan Jose Rangel-Martinez, one of the two men accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, is surrounded by deputies as he is led from the courtroom on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Houston. Capital murder charges have been filed against Johan Jose Rangel Martinez and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, in the strangulation death of the 12-year-old. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
Deputies comfort family members of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, after one of her accused kille ...
Deputies comfort family members of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, after one of her accused killers, Johan Jose Rangel-Martinez, appears in court on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Houston. Capital murder charges have been filed against Johan Jose Rangel Martinez and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, in the strangulation death of the 12-year-old. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP)
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The Associated Press
June 25, 2024 - 11:56 am
 

HOUSTON — A second Venezuelan man living in the U.S. illegally and accused of killing a 12-year-old Houston girl was ordered on Tuesday to be held on a $10 million bond.

Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, is one of two men charged with capital murder in Jocelyn Nungaray’s death. The other is Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26.

State District Judge Josh Hill set the bond during a court hearing in which prosecutors said authorities found evidence on Martinez-Rangel’s cellphone that they allege showed he was trying to leave the country after police were looking for him following Jocelyn’s death.

Mario Madrid, a court-appointed attorney for Martinez-Rangel, did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

During a court hearing Monday, Hill also ordered that Peña be held on a $10 million bond.

Nungaray’s body was found June 17 in a shallow creek after police said she sneaked out of her nearby home the night before. She was strangled to death, according to the medical examiner. Prosecutors allege the men took off her pants, tied her up and killed her before throwing her body in the bayou.

She had disappeared during a walk to a convenience store, police said.

The two men are Venezuelan nationals who entered the United States illegally in March, according to a statement Friday from the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Both were arrested by U.S. Border Patrol and later released with orders to appear in court at a later date.

Both Peña and Martinez-Rangel are now under immigration holds by federal authorities, meaning they would remain in custody even if they could post bond.

Nungaray’s funeral is set for Thursday in Houston.

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