Speaking in an interview with Fox 26 Houston, Kelvin Alvarenga, the grandfather of Jocelyn Nungaray, the 12-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered, allegedly at the hands of two illegal immigrants originally from Venezuela, praised former President Donald Trump for reaching out to the family about the tragedy.
In his comments to that local Houston outlet, Mr. Alvarenga described the family’s immense grief over Jocelyn’s death af the alleged hands of the two illegal immigrants from Venezuela, saying, “It’s going to be almost impossible to get rid of this feeling of loss.” He also noted that, though the death penalty is on the table given that both sexual assault and murder have been confirmed, the family of Jocelyn is against capital punishment in this case.
Rather, the family members of Jocelyn said that they think life in prison would be more punishment. For example, Melfri Vargas, the wife of Mr. Alvarenga, said, “I want them to remember Jocy the rest of their life.” She continued, “I want, every time they go to sleep, they remember what they did and show the others you don’t mess with our child, you don’t mess with the United States, you don’t mess with Texas.”
Similarly, Mr. Alvarenga said that he thinks they should be tossed to the wolves in the general population of prison and forced to remember her for the rest of their lives. He said, “I rather for them to remember this in general population. Life without parole, that way they can remember every night when they go to bed, the horrific deal that they did to our family.”
He also explained that he hopes his granddaughter’s name is remembered for more than just political discourse, though his comments indicated that he is not against her case being used “as a political base.” He said, “I want them not to just use my granddaughter as a political base, but to know her name is Jocelyn Nungaray. We just want to make a difference for Jocy. We don’t want Jocy’s memory or name to be easily forgotten.”
Then, Mr. Alvarenga thanked former President Donald Trump for calling the family shortly before the debate, saying, “God bless him, because at the telling of the day, I wouldn’t want my daughter’s accident to go as another statistic for the city of Houston or the state of Texas. With former President Trump reaching out, my blessings to him and God bless him.”
Ms. Vargas added that the tragedy has been very hard on Jocelyn’s mother, saying, “She’s a single mom [Alexis] and one of the hardest thing for her and us to explain to a five-year-old that his, Cici, will not be at home anymore. He asks when is he going to see Cici. We try to explain the best way we can to a little one, it’s not an easy thing to do. He always ask for her, he wants to go see her.”
Watch Jocelyn’s family speak about her, her alleged killers, and Trump here:
Featured image credit: Houston Police Department
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