Ted Cruz calls for death penalty if 2 illegal immigrants accused of killing 12-year-old girl are convicted
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Friday called for two illegal immigrants charged with killing a 12-year-old Houston girl to be sentenced to death if they are convicted for the slaying.
Cruz also blamed President Biden’s border policies for leading to the death of Jocelyn Nungaray, who was found Monday strangled to death in a creek.
Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, and Franklin Pena, 26, both from Venezuela, are each charged with capital murder.
“This is horrifying. If guilty, both of these men should receive the death penalty for this horrible crime,” Cruz wrote on X. “These men are illegal aliens and Jocelyn Nungaray would still be alive and with her family if not for Joe Biden’s open border policies. The Biden administration is directly responsible. My heart goes out to Jocelyn’s family.”
The pair were seen with Nungaray on Sunday night before she was killed near a bridge, police said Thursday. Investigators tracked their movements through surveillance footage.
“In this case the defendant lured a 12-year-old under a bridge, where he and his co-defendant remained with her for over 2 hours, took her pants off, tied her up, and killed her, then threw her body into the bayou,” Harris County Assistant District Attorney Michael Abner wrote.
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Both suspects entered the United States illegally through Texas, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
“On March 14, Martinez was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas. That same day he was released on an order of recognizance with a notice to appear,” an ICE spokesperson said. “Pena was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 28 near El Paso. He was also released on an order of recognizance with a notice to appear the same day he was apprehended.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security stated to Fox News Digital: “Our hearts go out to Jocelyn Nungaray’s family. The Department cannot publicly comment on an ongoing criminal investigations. That said, anyone who commits a horrific and senseless crime, like the one these individuals are accused of, should be prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law.”
On Friday, Cruz urged Biden to restore the Remain in Mexico policy, a Trump-era directive that required migrants applying for asylum to stay in Mexico while their cases play out in U.S. courts.
“He must reinstate Remain in Mexico and end catch-and-release immediately, or we will lose more innocent life,” Cruz wrote. “There is no time for half measures – we need to look at what works, and do it now.”
The slaying of Nungaray came amid a week of kidnappings, murders and rapes blamed on illegal immigrants across the country.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman contributed to this report.