SAN ANTONIO – A grand jury determined there was insufficient probable cause to move forward with criminal charges against a federal immigration agent who shot a 23-year-old San Antonio man last March.
The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office presented the case Wednesday to the grand jury, which returned the “no bill” decision in the death of Ruben Ray Martinez.
Martinez was shot and killed by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent during a traffic stop last March, according to internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement documents.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told KSAT that Martinez attempted to run over one of the special agents performing the stop, prompting the second agent to open fire.
The shooting remains under investigation by Texas Rangers, the statement said.
The attorneys for Martinez’s mother Rachel Reyes said the family was “devastated” by the decision, in a statement to KSAT.
“We do not know what information was presented to the grand jury in that secret proceeding,” the attorneys said.
Key witness to shooting died in fatal crash Saturday
The passenger in Martinez’s vehicle, 25-year-old Joshua Orta, died just days before the grand jury hearing.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Orta died in a high-speed crash near downtown early Saturday morning.
The San Antonio Police Department said the driver, later identified as Orta, lost control of his vehicle on the Interstate 35 frontage road, near Powell Street, and crashed into a utility pole.
Attorneys for Martinez’s family said they are unaware whether the grand jury was presented with a statement from Orta.
“We believe that it is essential now that the Texas Department of Public Safety publicly disclose the full findings of their investigation,” the attorneys said in a statement, “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.”
Rep. Ray Lopez calls for public hearing into shooting
Texas Rep. Ray Lopez, D-San Antonio, called for a public hearing to be held regarding the shooting.
“This is not to try to create a witch hunt,” Lopez said. “This is not to try and create anything other than, let’s get the truth out, and let’s get some closure right now.”
Lopez said he only learned about the shooting last week, after nonpartisan organization American Oversight released the documents as part of a large records request from the Department of Homeland Security.
Lopez said he requested a public hearing on the shooting in a letter to the chair of the Texas House Homeland Security, Public Safety & Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He serves as the vice chair of the committee.
The representative has not yet heard back on a decision regarding a public hearing. The office of committee chair, Rep. Cole Hefner, R-Mt. Pleasant, told KSAT it had no comment.
What led up to the shooting?
The special agents were assisting the South Padre Island Police Department in directing traffic after a major accident on March 15, 2025, according to the documents and statement from ICE.
Homeland Security special agents were redirecting traffic just after midnight, the report states, and Martinez failed to follow the detour route instructions.
Martinez then stopped his vehicle at the instruction of multiple agents, according to the report, and agents surrounded the vehicle, ordering him to exit.
The report said Martinez then drove forward and struck an agent, who sustained a knee injury.
Another special agent began firing “multiple rounds at the driver through the open driver’s side window,” the report said. Martinez was shot and later pronounced dead at a Brownsville hospital.
The Homeland Security spokesperson described these as “defensive,” but the department has not publicly identified whether the bullets hit Martinez and whether it was the cause of his death.
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