One of the Venezuelan migrants accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl is the son of an ex-government official in the socialist nation, DailyMail.com has learned.
Johan Jose Martinez Rangel, 22, is one of two men who could face the death penalty for the capital murder of Jocelyn Nungaray, who was found strangled in a creek earlier this month in Houston, Texas.
Following Martinez Rangel’s arrest, Venezuelans from his home state of Guarico began flagging on social media that his mother Nazareth Rangel Palacios is a staunch supporter of Nicolas Maduro and served as a councilwoman for his party.
Venezuela’s electoral registry shows Martinez Rangel and Rangel Palacios share the same address in San Juan de Los Morros.
Rangel Palacios was a vocal militant for the ruling party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, and was photographed with her son in pro-government events until he left the country in about 2018.
Rangel is believed to have entered Colombia before crossing into the U.S. via Mexico illegally in March.
DailyMail.com also confirmed his identity by speaking to one of his childhood friends, who said he did not want to discuss Martinez Rangel’s alleged crimes.
‘He was my friend when we were kids and it’s very sad that he did what he did,’ Lias Brandont told DailyMail.com.
Martinez Rangel’s family connections have emerged as Univision aired a video they said shows the murder suspect snorting a substance that appears to be cocaine the day of Nungaray’s killing.
The footage appears to show the suspect wearing the same hat and accessories he had on when he was pictured next to Nungaray before her murder.
A source shared a voice note with Univision that Martinez Rangel allegedly sent to them, bragging about being very intoxicated.
Rangel Martinez and Franklin Pena, 26, are accused of luring Nungaray underneath a bridge before sexually assaulting and killing her.
Her body was found the next morning after she had been strangled, bound and thrown in a bayou. She was naked from the waist down.
The men allegedly met Nungaray, who had snuck out of her house, as she was walking to a 7-11 around 10om on June 16.
The men walked to the store with her and later under the bridge. Investigators have yet to say which of the men they believe raped Nungaray before her death.
Both men are currently being held in jail with $10 million bonds each.
A third man who briefly lived with the two suspects was the one who ratted them out to the cops.
The unnamed roommate claims he had only lived with the two men for a matter of days when he ate dinner with the accused killers on June 16 at a restaurant called ‘Ojos Locos’ — or ‘crazy eyes’ in Spanish, according to Fox 26.
Two days after the murder, as Houston police led a full-fledged manhunt for Nungaray’s killers, the tipster was watching TV with Martinez and Peña when their photos flashed on the screen.
The roommate ‘tried not to react’, as he wasn’t even sure it was them.
Through a family member, the roommate contacted investigators who were able to arrest them.
State District Judge Josh Hill set the bond during a court hearing in which prosecutors said authorities found evidence on Martinez-Rangel’s cellphone that they allege showed he was trying to leave the country after police were looking for him following Jocelyn’s death.