The Venezuelan migrant who is accused of murdering 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray and then cutting off the ankle monitor he was given when he was released into the US was ordered held on $10 million bond on Monday.
Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, crossed the southern border illegally at El Paso, Texas, just last month, The Post first reported last week, citing sources.
Pena Ramos and another Venezuelan migrant who crossed illegally, Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, are charged with capital murder for Jocelyn’s death.
Authorities say they allegedly lured away the young girl after she sneaked out of her home — then tied her up, took off her pants, strangled her and dumped her body in a bayou.
Pena Ramos cut his ankle monitor two days after Jocelyn’s body was found in the swampy bayou in Houston on Monday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources told The Post.
Both migrants waived their right to appear in court, according to local reports. The District Attorney’s office had requested that each of their bonds be set at $1 million.
Rangel Martinez was also given an ankle monitor, but had it removed on May 15 because authorities determined he had no known criminal history and appeared at his required check-in, sources said.
Pena Ramos was set to appear before an immigration judge in July, while Rangel Martinez was set to appear in immigration court in August.
Both of the accused have immigration holds, which ICE uses to ensure they remain in custody.
Jocelyn snuck out of her home around 10 p.m. on Sunday, according to investigators.
She was later seen in surveillance footage at a local convenience store, where the suspects were seen following the girl as she walked into the store.
Jocelyn’s mother, Alexis Nungaray, said she believes her daughter was taken “advantage of” by her killers.
“I’m like angry that they took advantage of her. She was so young,” the grieving mom told KHOU.
Jocelyn’s funeral will take place Thursday and will be paid for by Texas furniture tycoon Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale.
A Houston resident found Jocelyn’s body the day after she snuck out of her house. At first, the local, who had been driving by the creek, thought the body was a mannequin, she told KTRK-TV.
“I did a U-turn, and I stopped on the bridge, put my flashers on, looked down, and realized it was someone. I parked right here and called 911 immediately,” she said.
The two Venezuelan migrants were arrested Thursday at a local apartment complex, where they had been living together as roommates.
When cops showed up, one of them tried to jump over a balcony in an attempt to flee, but was ultimately nabbed by authorities, witnesses told local outlet KHOU.
It remains to be seen whether or not the two alleged killers were connected to the to the violent Venezuelan El Tren de Aragua gang.
There have been many stories of illegal migrants committing heinous crimes as of late.
Earlier this month, an Ecuadorian migrant allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl he bound and gagged in a broad daylight in a Queens park.
The alleged rapist Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi, 25, crossed the border illegally into Eagle Pass, Texas, in 2021 and was ordered removed by an immigration judge the next year — but never left, The Post previously revealed.
Authorities also arrested a migrant from El Salvador who crossed illegally into the US three times in two months, was booted, and then made it in undetected on his fourth try and then went on to allegedly rape and murder Maryland mom-of-five Rachel Morin.