A grand jury did not find probable cause to issue an indictment in the fatal shooting of a man last year on South Padre Island by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz said his office presented the case on Wednesday and the jury issued a no bill. Prosecutors can pursue a criminal case after a no bill but rarely do so.
Agents assigned to a Department of Homeland Security subagency fatally shot 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez of San Antonio multiple times in the early hours of March 15 as they helped local police direct traffic at the scene of an auto accident, records released by American Oversight, a nonprofit government watchdog, show.
Martinez was at Padre Island that weekend celebrating his birthday with friends, said Will Miller, a spokesperson for Rachel Reyes, Martinez’s mother and their lawyers.
“Ruben’s family is devastated,” according to a statement from a group of attorneys with Thompson Stam and Hayes Law representing Reyes. “They are proud Americans, strong supporters of law enforcement, and Trump voters. They believe there are honest and decent officers out there. They just want to be treated honestly and decently.”
In a statement Friday, DHS confirmed the shooting and accused Martinez of “intentionally” running over an agent, who was taken to a hospital for a knee injury and later released, according to records of the incident. Local media reported on the shooting, but it was not clear until last week that federal immigration officers were involved.
“Since Ruben’s death a year ago, all we have wanted is justice for him and we have struggled with the silence surrounding his killing,” his mother, Rachel Reyes, said in a statement. “Now, the country is in crisis — and, terribly, heartbreakingly, other families are enduring what we have. It’s my hope that attention being raised now into Ruben’s death will help bring the justice we want for him and the answers we haven’t had.”
On Saturday, Joshua Orta, the only passenger in the vehicle during Martinez’s shooting, died in an auto accident in San Antonio, according to the Associated Press. Police said the vehicle Orta was driving left the road and struck a utility pole at a high rate of speed. His passengers survived the fiery crash.
According to a draft of Orta’s affidavit obtained by the AP, Orta said Martinez “did not hit anyone” with his vehicle.
It’s unclear whether the jury was shown Orta’s affidavit, according to Martinez’s attorneys.
“And we do not know if they were shown video of an ICE agent dragging Ruben onto the ground and handcuffing him immediately after shooting him three times,” they said.
“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,” their statement also said.
At least half a dozen other people have died during the nations’ immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, including two U.S. citizens — Alex Pretti and Renee Good — who were fatally shot by ICE and Border Patrol agents in Minnesota earlier this year, sparking nationwide protests.
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