# ICE Shooting of Ruben Martinez (March 15, 2025) The first known killing of a U.S. citizen by immigration agents under Trump's second administration — predating the more widely covered Minneapolis killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ten months. A 23-year-old American citizen, Ruben Ray Martinez, was shot through the heart by ICE/HSI agent Jack C. Stevens on South Padre Island, Texas, during spring break. The shooting went largely unreported for nearly a year, and Martinez's family was never told that a federal immigration agent was responsible until the fact emerged through an unrelated public records lawsuit in February 2026. ## The Shooting On the night of March 15, 2025, Martinez and his childhood best friend Joshua Orta (25) had traveled from San Antonio to South Padre Island to celebrate Martinez's birthday. Martinez was intoxicated (BAC 0.12, over the 0.08 legal limit, with traces of marijuana and Xanax) and unfamiliar with the island's roads. They encountered a traffic accident scene staffed by multiple agencies, including ICE/HSI agents from a maritime unit. Martinez received conflicting commands from officers — one said "pull over," another said "keep going." When he slowly turned onto a side street, federal agents claimed he struck agent Hector Sosa with his car. Agent **Jack C. Stevens** fired multiple shots through the open window, piercing Martinez's heart. Neither federal agent wore a body camera. Local law enforcement cameras did not fully capture the critical seconds. Orta, in the passenger seat, disputed the government's account in a sworn declaration filed months later. He stated Martinez was driving cautiously, did not strike anyone, and that the officer appeared to position himself in front of the car rather than being hit by it. If that account holds, it is a classic [[Officer-Created Jeopardy]] scenario. Martinez's attorneys said updated footage shows the car's brake light was on and the car was stopping when Stevens fired. After the shooting, Martinez was dragged from the car and handcuffed on the roadway while appearing unconscious. Orta was held for over four hours — first in a police car, then in a windowless interrogation room. ## The Cover-Up Martinez's mother, **Rachel Reyes** (48, nurse and health insurance administrator), was told only that her son "tapped" an officer. She was never informed that the shooter was a federal immigration agent. She paid $600+ to retrieve her son's impounded car; bullet casings were still inside. In late July 2025, Amazon's insurance company denied Reyes's life insurance claim, citing a potential felony charge — a charge that was never filed. The insurer appeared to have more information about the circumstances of her son's death than the victim's own mother. The identity of the shooting agency was exposed only in **February 2026**, when **[[American Oversight]]**, a national watchdog nonprofit, obtained records through an unrelated public records lawsuit revealing ICE's involvement. Local TV station KSAT broke the story in San Antonio. ## The Death of Joshua Orta Hours after learning that ICE had killed his friend, Joshua Orta — who had suffered from survivor's guilt, nightmares, and increased drinking since witnessing the shooting — died in an alcohol-fueled car crash on I-35 in San Antonio on approximately February 21, 2026. He was 25. Orta's family and attorneys frame his death as a downstream consequence of the shooting: the psychological trauma of witnessing his best friend's killing, compounded by the shock of learning the government had concealed the responsible agency for nearly a year. Orta was the sole civilian witness and had provided the only sworn statement contradicting the agents' account. ## Legal Proceedings - **Texas Rangers** investigated the shooting (under Texas DPS oversight) - **Cameron County Grand Jury** declined to indict (no-bill), spring 2026 - **[[Todd Lyons]]** (Acting ICE Director) defended the grand jury's finding - Martinez's family retained attorneys Alex Stamm and Butch Hayes; civil litigation anticipated - Multiple agencies (DHS, ICE, South Padre Island PD, Cameron County DA, Texas DPS) refused to answer the Texas Tribune/ProPublica's questions ## KB Significance **1. First known U.S. citizen killed by immigration agents under [[Trump 2.0]].** The Martinez shooting on March 15, 2025 predates the Minneapolis killings of Renee Good (January 2026) and Alex Pretti (January 2026) by ten months. The Minneapolis victims received national coverage and criminal charges; Martinez received almost no coverage and a no-bill. The racial and class dimension is stark: Good and Pretti were white, middle-class protesters; Martinez was a Hispanic working-class man from San Antonio's South Side. **2. ICE operating outside its immigration mandate.** HSI agents were directing traffic at a car accident scene — not performing immigration enforcement. The families' core argument: ICE agents are "there to deport, not to play cop." **3. Government opacity.** The family was not informed the shooter was a federal agent for nearly a year. The information only emerged through a watchdog lawsuit. This is a pattern of institutional cover-up that connects to the broader Trump-era DHS accountability crisis. **4. Absence of body cameras.** Neither federal agent wore a body camera — raising systemic questions about accountability infrastructure when federal agents are deployed in domestic law enforcement roles. **5. Political realignment data point.** Rachel Reyes voted for Trump in 2024 on economic grounds. Her trust in government is now destroyed. She describes seeing a "pattern" of the administration evading responsibility. This is the individual-level version of the macro polling shift: 50% now support abolishing ICE (see [[ICE]] page). ## People | Person | Role | |---|---| | **Ruben Ray Martinez** | Victim, 23, U.S. citizen, Amazon employee | | **Joshua Orta** | Martinez's best friend, 25; sole civilian witness; died Feb 2026 | | **Rachel Reyes** | Martinez's mother; former 2024 Trump voter | | **Virginia Mandujano** | Orta's mother | | **Jack C. Stevens** | ICE/HSI agent who fired the fatal shots | | **Hector Sosa** | ICE agent who claimed Martinez bumped him | | **[[Todd Lyons]]** | Acting ICE Director; defended the no-bill | ## See Also - [[ICE]] — the agency; see "Operations and controversies — Trump 2.0" - [[Todd Lyons]] — Acting ICE Director during the shooting and cover-up - [[American Oversight]] — the watchdog whose lawsuit exposed ICE involvement - [[Kristi Noem]] — DHS Secretary during the relevant period - [[ICE Minneapolis Killings]] — the later, better-known killings of U.S. citizens by ICE - [[Officer-Created Jeopardy]] — the vehicle-shooting doctrine this case and the Renée Good killing share