Jocelyn Nungaray, the 12-year-old Houston girl found strangled to death last week, fought back against her attackers, two illegal immigrants who lured her under a bridge where they sexually assaulted her, prosecutors said Tuesday. 

The alleged killers, Johan Jose Rangel Martinez, 21, and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, 26, met each other when they were both on their way to the United States from Venezuela and then later connected in Houston, Fox Houston reported. 

Bail for Martinez, a father of two young children, 2 and 5, who aren’t in Texas, was set at $10 million after prosecutors labeled him a flight risk. He still had marks on him left by Nungaray during the June 16 attack, authorities said. Nungaray’s hands and feet were bound, she was nude from the waist down, had marks on her neck, and scrapes on her backside consistent with being dragged, prosecutors said.

‘EVIDENCE IS CLEAR THAT A SEXUAL ASSAULT LIKELY HAPPENED,’ PROSECUTOR SAYS 

Ramos told authorities he tried to convince Martinez to stop, but he allegedly refused and climbed on top of the girl and strangled her, according to Harris County prosecutor Megan Long. He said Martinez strangled her and suggested placing her in the water to remove DNA evidence. 

“It’s especially difficult when it’s a loss of a 12-year-old child who had their whole life ahead of them. So, this will be an emotional case for us as prosecutors as well as the family,” Long said. 

Martinez allegedly told authorities that he tied Jocelyn’s legs and instructed Pena to throw her in the bayou. Martinez had bite marks and scratches on his arm and had shaved his beard to avoid detection, authorities allege.

After the killing, Ramos allegedly sent a message to his boss at a construction crew saying the two had been partying the night of the killing and that someone ended up dead, and they needed money to leave town, prosecutors said. 

Ramos, who entered the U.S. illegally a month before the killing, appeared in court on Monday where he was also given a $10 million bail amount. Both men are charged with capital murder. 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT ACCUSED OF KILLING JOCELYN NUNGARAY WORE ICE ANKLE MONITOR  

Jocelyn Nungaray, 12, was found strangled to death in a Houston creek this week. (Fox Houston courtesy of the Nungaray family)

Harris County District Court Judge Josh Hill said he set a high bail amount because he didn’t want Ramos or Martinez to flee, but also because he didn’t want them to get deported.

“I’ve seen individuals go into ICE custody, go through the deportation or removal process where they have been ordered to be removed… and that the feds have deported or removed those individuals with the Harris County criminal charges still pending,” Hill said. “And it puts us in the position where those charges would never be answered.”

The killing shocked the community in and around Houston and was one in a series of crimes involving illegal immigrants this month. 

Harris County Judge Lina Hildago, who often comments on local and national political matters, “evil happens regardless of immigration status” before blaming Republicans for the conditions that led to Nungaray’s murder. 

Jocelyn Nungaray’s mother Alexis Nungaray speaks following Pena Ramos’ court appearance on Monday, June 24. (KRIV)

Nungaray’s family, including her mother Alexis Nungaray, was in court Tuesday. Melfri Vargas, stepmother to Alexis Nungaray, called Rangel a “murderer” and said, “I hope they kill your children,” the news station reported. 

Surveillance video captured the moment a group of teens attempted to burglarize a home in San Bernardino County.

The suspects targeted the home on the 1100 block of Cedar Court in Upland around 11:30 p.m. on Monday night.

The homeowner, Jamie Asanovich, had left to make an Uber Eats delivery while her elderly mother was still inside the house.

But just minutes after driving away, her Ring doorbell camera alerted her that someone was at their front door.

“My mom called and she said, ‘Someone’s at the door knocking,’” recalled Asanovich. “I could see him on the Ring doorbell and I said, ‘I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t answer the door.’”

Within minutes, Asanovich’s mother called her back, feeling scared as three suspects had jumped over the fence and into their backyard.

The grandmother turned on a yard light and saw the suspects begin removing a window screen and attempting to enter the home.

Asanovich turned her car around and immediately rushed back home while calling the police to report the in-progress burglary.

As she approached her home, she spotted the suspects running to a getaway car and speeding away. She decided to follow them while letting the police dispatcher know their every move.

“When they got into the freeway, I kind of lost them because their lights were off,” Asanovich said.

She exited the freeway at Archibald Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga and spotted the suspects’ car turning into an apartment complex near 19th Street and Hermosa Avenue.

Upland police officers arrived at the complex shortly after and arrested five teen suspects inside the vehicle. The driver was an 18-year-old female and the other four suspects were juveniles.

“We did find some flashlights, a screwdriver and a hammer,” said Sgt. Jacob Kirk with Upland Police. “Some of the juveniles were site-released and one of them was booked into juvenile hall and the adult was booked. It was for attempted residential burglary.”

Police said the juvenile who was booked was on probation for a previous theft-related charge at the time.

Even though the victims weren’t hurt, Asanovich and her mother remain stunned and shaken.

“My mom turned a light on and that’s when they got scared and jumped over a fence and that’s when I got [back home],” Asanovich said. “But I think, ‘What if the window was open and they actually got in? What were they going to do to her?’”

Asanovich believes the suspects may be local high school kids who knew that her daughter was out of town in Hawaii.

Police have not confirmed a motive behind the attempted burglary, but Asanovich hopes the teens will learn their lesson before attempting to commit future crimes.

A pair of Los Angeles County businesses must pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for putting juvenile employees as young as 15 into dangerous situations and working them in excess of hours and times allowed by law.

A&J Meats of the City of Industry and The Right Hire of Downey “jointly employed and endangered children as young as 15 by tasking them to use sharp knives, allowing them to work inside freezers and coolers, and to scheduling them to work at times not permitted by law, all in violation of federal child labor regulations,” the U.S. Department of Labor said in a news release.

Specific violations include:

• Working children for more than three hours on school days
• Working children past 7 p.m. on school days
• Working children more than 18 hours in a week while school is in session

The companies must repay more than $327,000 in profits and pay almost $63,000 in fines. The businesses and A&J owner Priscilla Helen Castillo also must submit to annual Fair Labor Standards Act training and be independently monitored for violations for three years.

“A&J Meats and The Right Hire knowingly endangered these children’s safety and put their companies’ profits before the well-being of these minors,” Western Regional Solicitor of Labor Marc Pilotin said in the release. “These employers egregiously violated federal law and now, both have learned about the serious consequences for those who so callously expose children to harm.” 

If you have questions or concerns about possible workplace violations, you can call 1-866-4-US-WAGE (487-9243) regardless of where you are from. The department can speak with callers in more than 200 languages.