Alexis Nungaray fought back tears in Congress on Tuesday night as President Donald Trump announced he has named a wildlife refuge in Texas for her daughter – who was allegedly killed by undocumented immigrants last year.
The murder of Joycelyn Nungaray, 12, has become an immigration flashpoint after the suspects in her brutal slaying were revealed to be undocumented Venezuelan migrants.
Nearly nine months after Jocelyn’s death first made headlines, her mother gave DailyMail.com an exclusive tour of the storage unit where she recreated her daughter’s bedroom in Houston.
It’s stunning to see in person: the pre-teen bedroom of a murder victim in one of the nation’s most high-profile cases, recreated in a storage facility by her mother.
The red Converse with ‘Forever 12’ handwritten on them.
Lana Del Rey posters, a guitar, her baby book near a half-eaten bag of Takis chips – cosmetics belonging to Jocelyn Nungaray – who was just beginning to experiment with makeup.
She also revealed her daughter tried to kill herself just months before her murder, and spent time in a psychiatric facility after the failed suicide attempt.
Nearly nine months after Jocelyn Nungaray’s death first made headlines, her mother Alexis gave DailyMail.com an exclusive tour of the storage unit where she recreated her daughter’s bedroom in near Houston
Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, was killed by two Venezuelan migrants after she was raped under a bridge, prosecutors say, in June 2023
‘She was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety,’ Alexis Nungaray revealed to DailyMail.com.
‘Just wasn’t in a good head space and she did try to commit suicide.’
Most people who’ve heard of the 12-year-old from Houston know about her murder.
After sneaking out in the middle of the night of the Texas apartment she shared with her mom and younger brother on June 16, two men approached her on the street: Venezuelan migrants Franklin Pena, 26, and Johan Martinez-Rangel, 22.
She willingly went with them to a convenience store and later under a bridge where she was raped and strangled over a two-hour period.
Authorities have accused the migrants of having possible links to the brutal gang Tren de Aragua.
The State of Texas intends to seek the death penalty for the men if they’re convicted, however, the men aren’t expected to face a jury until 2026 at the earliest.
‘I came up with the idea of looking for a storage unit that was climate controlled with an AC unit that could provide a realistic mimic of what (her room) was,’ Alexis Nungaray explained.
She has since moved out of the apartment where she lived with Jocelyn when the murder happened. The mother is now living with relatives, and there’s no space for Jocelyn’s belongings.
‘I just felt like if I threw everything in boxes in the garage and all her furniture together, it would feel like I was burying her completely and was leaving her in my past,’ she added.
‘I just felt like if I threw everything in boxes in the garage and all her furniture together, it would feel like I was burying her completely and was leaving her in my past,’ Alexis Nungaray explained about her decision to recreate her daughter’s bedroom in a storage unit in North Houston
Red Converse, the pair of shoes Jocelyn most loved, sit by a desk with the words, ‘Forever 12’ and a heart, written on them
Alexis Nungaray revealed her daughter Jocelyn tried to kill herself months before her murder
This image of Jocelyn Nungaray was among the first released of her by her family as part of GoFundMe page
Alexis Nungaray plans to keep Jocelyn’s room in the storage unit until she can move into her own place with a spare room, where her belongings can be set up how the girl left them
‘I don’t want to feel like she’s not here anymore. I know physically, she’s not here anymore, but I just wasn’t ready to get rid of her most place of sanctuary, which was her room.’
Now, the grieving mom goes to the storage unit when she wants to be alone or feel close to her daughter.
‘Sometimes, me and her brother, we’ll come here and we’ll eat lunch on her bed. He likes to be around her stuff,’ Alexis shared.
‘I do know now, I’m not ready to get rid of it. I like coming into her room because it reminds of who she was.’
The re-created bedroom is filled with sweet memories, like baby blankets and photos, but also reminders of a dark time Jocelyn went through prior to her death.
Her mom shared handwritten coping techniques, like going for a walk, Jocelyn learned while she was a patient in a psychiatric hospital in February– four months before her death.
‘She struggled a lot mentally. She held it in for about two years,’ the young mom explained.
Jocelyn was getting better after her suicide attempt, her mom says, learning how to manage her emotions.
‘I appreciate our last few months because I was able to really be as close to her as I could,’ Alexis stated.
A book shelf is filled with vampire books, like the Twilight series.
‘Overall, books and music were her favorite things. Music was like her therapy. Music touch her soul and her heart and that kept her grounded,’ Alexis recalled.
Alexis Nungaray wipes away a tear as Trump honors her daughter by naming a wildlife refuge after her during his address to Congress
Booking photos of Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Pena, 26, now charged with capital murder in the death of 12-yr-old Jocelyn Nungaray on June 17
Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, one of the two men accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, is led from the courtroom by deputies on Tuesday, June 25
Franklin Pena, one of the two men accused of killing 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, leaves the courtroom after bail was set for $10 million
The road ahead is long for Alexis and her family, as they still have to two criminal trials to sit through.
The men charged in her daughter’s death will be tried separately, Alexis confirmed to DailyMail.com.
Already, the suspects have pointed the finger at each other, trying to downplay their own role in Nungaray’s death.
Franklin Pena claims he never even touched Jocelyn, saying it was buddy, Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel.
On the night of the murder, the trio walked to a bridge near a creek, after meeting at a gas station.
Jocelyn willing went under the bridge when the men, who emerged alone two hours later.
Houston police released these images, taken from surveillance video at a gas station in Houston, as they hunted down Jocelyn Nungaray’s killers
Jocelyn Nungaray captured on surveillance video outside of a convenience store before her death in June 2024, in an image released by the Houston Police Department
The images show a relaxed Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, walking into the 7-Eleven in North Houston with a man and willing leaving with him
The images did lead to the men’s arrest, after their roommate saw them on the news and turned them over to police
Pena claims Martinez-Rangel wrapped his forearm around Jocelyn’s neck while standing behind her and walked her under the bridge, according to TV station Fox 26.
Martinez-Rangel laid Jocelyn onto her back, according to Pena, and took her pants off.
He then described how Martinez-Rangel climbed on top of her while holding her arms down.
Pena tried to intervene, telling Martinez-Rangel to stop and that they should leave, but Martinez-Rangel responded, ‘I have to finish what I started.’
Martinez-Rangel then strangled her using his forearm, killing her and binding her hands and feet together.
It was Martinez-Rangel’s idea– Pena claimed– to move her body into the water to destroy any DNA left behind.
Pena also accused Martinez-Rangel of shaving his beard after the murder so that he would not be recognized.
In his own police interview, Martinez-Rangel initially denied he had killed Jocelyn, however, in later talks with investigators, he did fuss up to a few things.
He admitted to making the decision to tie her up and put her in the water to get rid of evidence.
Video shows Johan Jose Martínez Rangel, one of the two men accused of killing Jocelyn Nungaray, on the night he and Franklin Peña Ramos were seen with the young girl
June 27, 2024: Funeral of Jocelyn Nungaray, a 12-year-old girl who was murdered in Houston, Texas, at the Earthman Resthaven Funeral Home and Cemetery
Jocelyn Nungary’s mother, Alexis, sits down for an interview with DailyMail.com on February 18, discussing her daughter’s case
However, it was Pena, who asked his boss at the construction company where he worked for money to leave Houston after the murder but before the Venezuelan duo was arrested, prosecutors alleged in court.
Both migrants, who had each entered the US months before Jocelyn’s killing– are charged with capital murder and eligible for the death penalty.
Alexis says the district attorney came to her and asked her thoughts on seeking the death penalty for them.
‘I didn’t know exactly what I wanted. I really was weighing out the pros and cons,’ the mom explained.
‘The death penalty, they’re in solitary confinement. If you have life with parole, they’re in with everybody. It’s a lot harder life because that’s one thing that prisoners don’t play with is child killers and rapists, and they did both of those things.’
She ultimately decided the death penalty would be the appropriate punishment, and the Harris County District Attorney announced they will ask a jury to sentence them to die by lethal injection.
‘When your child is taken from you, and taken from you in the way that she was, it may not be very Christian of me to say, but I want them to suffer. I want them to be tortured, I want them to be miserable. I hate that they get to live, breathe another single day,’ Alexis revealed.
‘I know ultimately that still won’t make me feel whole. That’s not going to fill my heart because she’s was still not here. It’s kind of a mixed variety of feelings on that.’
The Harris County District Attorney’ Office would not comment on the case and only shared the suspect’s most recent court dates– March 3 for Johan Martinez-Rangel and March 20 for Franklin Pena.
