The case surrounding the tragic death of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray took a procedural turn yesterday, as a Harris County judge, put forth a new gag order intended to silence the public voices of the lawyers involved. As reported by the Houston Chronicle, this order comes on the heels of District Attorney Kim Ogg's remarks that interlinked the accusatory immigration status of the suspected perpetrators—Franklin Peña and Johan Martinez-Rangel, both Venezuelan nationals—with the political discourse on immigration policies.

The judge's decision, noted during court proceedings, was a response to both the defense's concern and the public discourse amplified by Ogg's recent comments. She had mentioned the case in endorsement settings and other public gatherings, making remarks such as Jocelyn was "murdered by two illegal Venezuelan aliens," as she was acting in her official capacity. This, raised eyebrows and the ire of the defense attorneys, who sought a gag order to stymie what they perceived as extrajudicial engagement with the case, something that while speaking to a Kingwood tea party, Ogg also did, as detailed by Houston Chronicle.

According to a courtroom interview presented in a piece by FOX 26 Houston, one defense attorney expressed disbelief, "I’ve never had a case where a lab actually leaks information, so that certainly is a red flag to me." The defense teams representing Peña and Martinez-Rangel had thus pressed the court for a gag order, hoping to stop the spilling over of sensitive case details into the public sphere—the very same request that was shot down when proposed in a different wording by Ogg's people, as they deemed it overly restrictive.

The call for tighter reins on information dissemination seems to echo a broader concern for the integrity of the judicial process, with Joe Vinas, a criminal defense attorney, stating in the same FOX 26 Houston article, "The elected DA doesn’t have any business going out there and speaking to the public saying that these people are guilty. That’s for the people to decide." With regard to public officials, it seems they are politicizing the case, the defense argues, and with Judge Josh Hill laying down the law in court, the wagons circle tighter, preempting potential unruly repercussions and steering toward a more controlled dissemination of the case's nuances.

Amidst this tightening circle of control over information, Jocelyn's family continues to grieve publicly, their sorrow made a spectacle woven into the tapestry of political narrative—a narrative that Jocelyn's mother furthers by standing alongside former President Donald Trump campaigning for change in immigration laws. The judge clarified that the gag order would not apply to them, eloquently saying, "I’m not going to tell someone that they’re not allowed to share their pain," according to a Houston Chronicle report.