Authorities suspect that the illegal migrants accused of brutally murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray had ties to the notorious Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.
Houston police and Harris County District Attorney’s Office are investigating TikTok accounts of Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, according to search warrants filed late last month (KPRC2).
According to one story, police uncovered a set of emojis—a ninja, a cross sword, and a building—that gang members are known to use to identify themselves. There was also a message that authorities believe was intended for individuals both within and outside the United States, and it “involved TdA gang membership.”
Peña Ramos and Rangel Martinez entered the US illegally at the southern border, but were freed weeks before the murder.
According to reports, they lured Jocelyn beneath a bridge in June, assaulted her for two hours, strangled her, and then dumped her bound, stripped body in a Houston marsh.
Investigators believe a TikTok video of Peña Ramos shows him with two star tattoos and a rose tattoo, both affiliated with Tren de Aragua.
Furthermore, detectives believe the dress, shoes, and hand signals used in some of the social media posts indicate TdA membership.
Jocelyn’s death rapidly became the focus of national media attention, with her family criticizing the Biden-Harris administration for allowing the two alleged murders into the country.
“It makes it seem more real that these people are monsters and evil people who do heinous things, don’t have a heart, and have no compassion for anybody,” Jocelyn’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, told KPRC 2 on Tuesday. “We shouldn’t be burying our children; they should be burying us.”
“This proves that these are very horrible people and it wasn’t an accident that just went too far,” she insisted.
“I needed to turn my pain into power and just make a difference,” she informed me. “I will use my last breath fighting for her.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has designated Tren de Aragua as a terrorist organization, claiming the gang has been active in the Lone Star State.
Abbott has placed a $5,000 bounty for TdA members in Texas, where they have primarily crossed the El Paso border, with 100 suspected members apprehended during a push near the border city in March.
Authorities in Texas recently captured 20 accused TdA gangbangers at the now-defunct Gateway hotel in El Paso, where the cops had been called nearly 700 times.
Since crossing the border as asylum seekers in recent years, TdA members have established footholds across the country, establishing criminal operations in New York, Colorado, and Chicago, and have been linked to an increase in sex trafficking in eight US states: California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.
In a recent interview with The Post, Abbott accused the Biden-Harris administration of welcoming TdA gangbangers.
“All of this is a result of Biden and Harris welcoming Venezuelans, including gang members. There is no data that even the Biden administration can use to determine if persons arriving from Venezuela are gang members or not,” Abbott added.
“A lot of Americans and Texans didn’t know exactly what was going on, and so by doing what I’ve done, there’s now a greater understanding and realization about the fact that this dangerous gang is in the United States,” stated the governor.
