This week, a judge struck down an attempt to silence the parents of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl who was allegedly murdered by illegal immigrants, from speaking to the media.
According to the New York Post, the two Venezuelan illegals accused of murdering the child pushed for a gag order on officials and her family.
As Townhall covered, Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, and Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, who both entered the United States illegally, were charged with capital murder in Nungaray’s death. The two illegals allegedly lured the child under a bridge in June and assaulted her before strangling her to death and dumping her corpse in a bayou.
Judge blocks attempt to stop Jocelyn Nungaray’s family from speaking out https://t.co/vTLsg6Y4u0 pic.twitter.com/V680zKV9bY
— New York Post (@nypost) September 11, 2024
To no surprise, Nungaray’s story blew up and has been covered by media outlets across the globe.
Due to this, Peña Ramos’ lawyer demanded a protective order to prevent Houston officials and others from making “extrajudicial statements” about the case, the Post noted (via NYP):
In the original gag order request, Peña Ramos’ legal team accused Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg of making “numerous statements about the case that went beyond the statements of the prosecutor during the probable cause hearing,” pointing to pointed to her past statements of “[M]ake no mistake, this is a horrific crime” and “the immigration system is broken,” according to Fox News.
On Wednesday, Harris County Judge Josh Hill decided against granting the gag order.
“All that we want is a fair trial for our client, we don’t want this process to be politicized, we want a fair jury and we can’t get that with people discussing the case when they don’t have any facts or evidence about it,” Mario Madrid, Martinez Rangel’s attorney, reportedly said at the courthouse.
Nungaray’s family visited the southern border with former President Donald Trump last month. This week, her mother, Alexis, testified before congress about illegal immigration crime.
“Because of the Biden-Harris administration open border policies, catch and release, they were enrolled in the Alternatives to Detention program,” Nungaray said of her daughter’s alleged murderers.
She clarified that “This meant that they were released into the United States” under Biden’s leadership.