One of the illegal migrants charged with killing little Jocelyn Nungaray wants the story be kept out of the media spotlight — as his lawyer argues that the national attention is “likely to produce a result of undue prejudice.”
Franklin Jose Peña Ramos’ lawyer is demanding a protective order to prevent officials in Houston from making “extrajudicial statements” or releasing any information about the case publicly, according to Fox News, which obtained a copy of the filing.
Peña Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, who both entered the country illegally at the southern border, are charged with capital murder.
They are accused of luring Jocelyn under a bridge in June and assaulting her for two hours before strangling her to death and dumping her bound, stripped body into a Houston bayou.
Her story quickly became part of the national conversation about the border amid a slew of high-profile crimes allegedly perpetrated by illegal migrants.
In their recent filing, Peña Ramos’ legal team accused Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg of making “numerous statements about the case that went beyond the statements of the prosecutor during the probable cause hearing,” according to the report.
The documents cited Ogg’s previous statements in which she said “[M]make no mistake, this is a horrific crime” and “the immigration system is broken.”
A spokesperson for Ogg’s office declined to comment.
Ultimately, Peña Ramos’ legal team asked that those involved in the case “refrain from making any further extrajudicial statements relating to this cause and to refrain from further dissemination of information, regardless of whether the information was previously disclosed to the public, concerning this cause by way of public communication, and for all other relief just and proper in the case.”
Jocelyn’s body was found the next morning naked from the waist down.
In addition to taking off in the media, Jocelyn’s story became the subject of legislation introduced by Republican Sen. Ted Cruz to crack down on the release of illegal immigrants from federal detention.
Jocelyn Nungaray’s family appeared at the southern border in Arizona last week alongside former President Donald Trump.
During the visit, Jocelyn’s mother, Alexis, spoke out about the system that allowed her daughter’s alleged killers to enter the US.
“There were over 300 detention beds they should have been at,” Nungaray said of the two alleged killers, one of whom was wearing an ICE ankle monitor, which he later cut off, during the murder.
“They were detained and released when they shouldn’t have been released,” she argued.
“We are losing very innocent people to heinous crimes that shouldn’t be happening in the first place,” Nungaray fumed.
