The Organization of Politically Persecuted Venezuelans in Exile (Veppex in Spanish), based in Miami, on Wednesday, expressed its deep disapproval of the rape and murder of a minor in Texas by two Venezuelan migrants and asked the Prosecutor General’s Office to request the death penalty.
The body of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was found in a creek in northern Houston last week with signs of violence.
The alleged perpetrators of the crime, Franklin José Peña, aged 26, and Johan José Martínez, aged 22, were arrested a few days after Houston police released several images of the two men talking to the minor.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to the media that Peña and Martínez were recently detained at the border by immigration authorities and released with electronic tagging and an order to appear before an immigration court.
A Texas judge imposed a 10 million dollar bail on both due to a high risk of flight. Nungaray’s tragic death has fueled the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the Republicans and the campaign of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021).
At a rally this weekend, Trump mentioned the murder of Jocelyn Nungaray, for which the two recently arrived Venezuelans were arrested, and also referred to four other investigations linked to immigrants.
Biden expressed against the criminalization of immigrants on Tuesday and accused Trump of exploiting these tragedies to dehumanize them.
Veppex stated in its release that the Venezuelan community in the US is deeply affected by «the crimes committed by immigrants of our nationality.»
The organization urged the Prosecutor’s Office leading the investigations in this case to «request the death penalty for these two criminals from Venezuela,» to guarantee there is justice.
