HOUSTON – A Harris County grand jury has indicted both suspects accused in the murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray.
The grand jury returned capital murder indictments against both Franklin Pena, 26, and Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, on Friday.
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The two men, who are illegal immigrants from Venezuela, are accused in the strangulation of Nungaray. Her body was found in a creek in the Greenspoint area of Houston back on June 17.
Thanks to surveillance video, law enforcement were able to track down the two suspects and they were arrested several days later at a nearby apartment complex.
Since then, one of the suspects, Pena, asked for a protective order to keep prosecutors and other people related to the case from talking about it publicly. His attorneys said the gag order was needed to ensure media attention about the case doesn’t prevent their client from having a fair trial.
The gag order request was rejected, but Judge Josh Hill filed an alternative gag order.
Hill ruled the wording of the original potential gag order was too broad since it ordered speech restrictions on thousands of employees, including those with the Houston Police Department, the forensic center, and courtroom personnel.
The new gag order issued by Judge Hill offers many of the restrictions on public communications that Peña’s attorneys were hoping to have enacted.
The primary difference is that these limitations are only enforced on the parties directly involved in the case, including the attorneys, witnesses, and others affiliated with the case. The order even extends to staffing interns at the attorney’s respective offices.
The order explicitly prohibits all parties and witnesses in the case from discussing aspects of the case within any public forum, including speaking with the media or posting on social media.
The next court appearance for Pena is scheduled for Oct. 30. Martinez-Rangel is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 11. Both these appearances will be arraignments.