A Mother’s Grief and Hope: Justice for Jocelyn Nungaray

In a heart-wrenching testimony of loss and resilience, Alexis Nungaray, mother of 12-year-old Jocelyn who was tragically killed in June 2024, has voiced her support for recent U.S. military action against suspected Tren de Aragua (TdA) narco-terrorists. Following President Trump’s announcement of a successful strike that eliminated 11 alleged TdA members on a drug boat in the southern Caribbean, Nungaray expressed hope in the administration’s commitment to eliminating these threats. “Taking down their drug boat 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,” she stated, finding a measure of justice in the military action against the organization allegedly connected to her daughter’s killers.

Alexis recounted the devastating moment when her search for her missing daughter led her to a skate park just minutes from their Houston home. Tracking Jocelyn’s phone to the location, she arrived to find police officers and crime scene tape. “There’s already an officer walking in my direction before I even put my car in park,” Nungaray recalled. “I run out, and I’m like, ‘I’m looking for my daughter. [I] don’t know where she is… Her phone shows it’s here.'” The officer gently redirected her, but homicide detectives later confirmed the worst news imaginable—they had found Jocelyn’s body. The 12-year-old had been sexually assaulted before her death, but in her final moments, she had fought back fiercely. “She left marks on them. She bit them. She left scratches,” her mother 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.”

The suspects in Jocelyn’s murder were identified as Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26—both Venezuelan nationals who had entered the United States illegally. According to search warrants, Peña had TdA-related tattoos, while Martinez-Rangel’s social media featured gang-associated emoji. More troublingly, Peña had previously been accused of raping an American woman in Costa Rica. Both men had been apprehended by U.S. Border Patrol near El Paso, Texas, in early 2024 but were released on their own recognizance under the Biden administration’s policies. Just months later, Jocelyn’s life was cut short. After the murder, both suspects were initially arrested on capital murder charges in El Paso but quickly released back into the community before eventually being placed under immigration detainers as prosecutors now pursue the death penalty.

“The two men who took my daughter’s life away from her were not from here,” Nungaray emphasized. “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.” The grieving mother expressed her fear for her surviving child and her relief at recent policy changes. “It’s been kind of scary to know the kind of world we live in as Americans… I was scared to know what could have happened to him if we hadn’t had 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.”

In a touching tribute to Jocelyn’s memory, President Trump signed an executive order in March renaming the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge the “Jocelyn Nungaray National Refuge,” honoring the young girl’s love for animals. This gesture has provided some comfort to her grieving mother. “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 shared. “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.” The U.S. House of Representatives also voted unanimously to memorialize the Texas girl, further acknowledging the impact of her tragic story on the national consciousness.

For Alexis Nungaray, each action taken against the TdA and similar criminal organizations represents a form of justice for Jocelyn. “My daughter was murdered by these same violent criminals who should never have been here in the first place,” she stated. “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—a national initiative dedicated to exposing the human impact of America’s border crisis—echoed this sentiment: “Today’s strike against the Tren de Aragua drug boat shows that this administration is finally taking the fight directly to the cartels, unlike Joe Biden, who allowed these known illegals to walk free.” As the legal case against Jocelyn’s alleged killers proceeds toward potential capital punishment, her mother finds some solace in knowing that broader action is being taken against the organization that allegedly influenced the men who took her daughter’s life, hoping that no other family will have to endure such a devastating loss.