We've learned more about the little girl who was strangled Monday and left in a north Houston creek. Twelve-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray's family wants justice for whoever killed the child who was always smiling.
“They took away my first-born. I was a teen mom, she helped me grow, mature,” Jocelyn's mother, Alexis Nungaray, told us. “She turned into a beautiful, beautiful young lady.”
She described Jocelyn as spunky, goofy and loving.
“I’m like angry that they took advantage of her. She was so young. She was 12, you took my baby away you took her away," Alexis said. “Now, I get to let her little brother know his older sister is never coming home.”
She doesn't know why Jocelyn snuck out of their apartment Sunday night.
"I always told her, 'Never leave the house, never leave unattended, always be safe. There’s people around here that are crazy,'" Alexis said. “I just hope, I hope they are found because Jocelyn was a fighter. She fought hard. She needs justice. She didn’t deserve this and she needs to be rested at peace.”
Jocelyn's uncle told us she was always smiling and she loved her family very much.
"Jocy was a smart, loving, nurturing young lady. She brightened up the room every time she came by and was loved by everyone around," Joamel Guevara said. "She had no reason to die the way she did."
Surveillance photos show persons of interest
Houston police released surveillance photos late Tuesday of two men they hope to identify and question about the child's death.
Police described the persons of interest as "two males of an unknown age, wearing baseball-style caps."
We obtained other surveillance photos that show Jocelyn with one of those men at a convenience store hours before her body was found on West Rankin Road near I-45 early Monday.
Mayor John Whitmire said Jocelyn was talking with her 13-year-old boyfriend on the phone from a convenience store that night after she snuck out.
“It appears that he last talked to her at a convenience store around midnight, heard her talking to two grown-ups," Whitmire said.
The next morning, Jocelyn's body was found in shallow water under the bridge on West Rankin Road near I-45. She'd been strangled and Whitmire said she was also raped.
The family is praying whoever killed Jocelyn is caught and punished.
"My sister, nephew and family deserve justice," Jocelyn's uncle told us. "We will not sleep until justice is served and these predators are in the Harris County Jail. In God's name, we pray!"
A GoFundMe.com account has been set up on behalf of Jocelyn's family to help pay for funeral expenses.
