No charges for ICE agent who killed US citizen in Texas
A Texas grand jury declined to charge a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Wednesday in the fatal shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez, 23. The shooting attracted widespread attention earlier in the week after an organization discovered that neither federal nor state agencies disclosed the fatal shooting of an American citizen.
The Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz told the Texas Tribune that the jury found no probable cause to move forward in criminal charges against the ICE agent. Attorneys for Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes, called the jury’s move “devastating” and questioned what information they were given about the March 2025 shooting.
“We do not know what video evidence they were shown, if any,” Reyes’ attorneys said Thursday. “We do not know if they were shown any statement from eyewitness Joshua Orta, who was clear in a thorough firsthand statement that Ruben’s car was moving slowly and did not hit anyone.”
Orta, 25, died Saturday in a single-car crash in San Antonio. According to Fox 5 San Antonio, Orta was driving at high speeds and lost control of the vehicle. Several occupants were pinned inside the vehicle, but were able to escape.
One of the Martinez’ lawyers, Alex Stamm, said in a statement to Straight Arrow News that Orta’s death was an “awful tragedy.” He wrote a statement of events and was prepared to notarize the document.
“In terms of Ruben’s death, the world has also now lost a critical eyewitness,” Stamm said Tuesday.
The shooting wasn’t linked to ICE until American Oversight, a government watchdog organization, uncovered the shooting after filing a public records request with ICE. The released documents focused on the agency’s use-of-force reports, which showed a 353% increase from Jan. 19 to March 20 last year, from 17 to 67. It also showed there was a 460% increase in assaults on ICE officers in that same time period, from five to 28.
A spokesperson with ICE told Straight Arrow News that each use of force incident and discharge of an agency firearm is required to be reported and reviewed in accordance with ICE’s policy, procedures and guidelines.
“All shootings are initially reviewed by an appropriate law enforcement agency,” the spokesperson said. “Following a review of the incident by the appropriate investigative agency, ICE will conduct an independent review of the critical incident.”
A Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent, which is governed by ICE, filed a report and wrote that he shot and killed Martinez — a U.S. citizen — on March 15, 2025, following a traffic stop in South Padre Island. The Texas Rangers had since taken over the investigation.
The Texas DPS confirmed to Straight Arrow News its investigation is complete into the shooting, but didn’t answer questions on why it didn’t state a federal agency was behind the shooting, if an internal investigation was conducted and if charges were filed against Orta.
“After a year defined by a persistent lack of transparency since Ruben Ray Martinez was shot and killed by an ICE officer, once again, his family is left in the dark by yet another event,” the family said Thursday.
DHS, Orta’s recollection of events conflicts
Reyes’ attorneys previously furnished Straight Arrow News with a copy of Orta’s written statement detailing what happened the night of Martinez’s fatal shooting. His recollection appeared to contradict what DHS previously told Straight Arrow News.
The HSI agent wrote in his report that the driver and passenger in the Ford — later revealed to be Martinez and Orta, respectively — appeared to be either intoxicated or impaired and noncompliant with officers’ demands. Both were identified in the report to be U.S. citizens.
Orta wrote they had a “few drinks” at a condo, hung out at a pool party and then made a trip to a Whataburger location before approaching the accident. He mentioned a local police officer saw an open alcohol container in the back and told the two to turn around and leave. That’s when an officer approached the Ford and slapped the hood and tried to get in front of the vehicle, Orta wrote.
DHS said that agents were assisting the South Padre Island Police with traffic control following a major car crash when they encountered the Ford. They claimed the driver intentionally ran over an HSI special agent, causing him to be on the hood of the vehicle.
“Upon witnessing this, another agent fired defensive shot to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public,” a DHS spokesperson previously told Straight Arrow News.
Orta said otherwise. He wrote that the car was “crawling as we were trying to turn around” before an agent two feet away fired shots into Martinez’s window without “giving any warning, commands, or opportunity to comply.”
After being shot in the chest, Martinez told Orta “I’m sorry” before slumping over, the 25-year-old wrote.
“We believe that it is essential now that the Texas Department of Public Safety publicly disclose the full findings of their investigation, so that Ruben’s family and the public can determine for themselves whether ICE’s story is accurate and why Ruben was killed that night,” Reyes’ lawyers said Thursday.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
