Texas grand jury rejects indictments in fatal shooting by immigration agent

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A Texas grand jury declined to hand up indictments in the fatal March 15, 2025, shooting of U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez by a federal Homeland Security Investigations agent during a traffic encounter, prosecutors said. The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office said it presented the case to the grand jury before it declined to pursue indictments. The shooting had not been publicly disclosed by the Department of Homeland Security until The Associated Press and other media reported it last week, according to AP reporting.

The case centers on an account of what happened during a daytime encounter in Texas that DHS previously described as a threat made by Martinez while officers were assisting local police with traffic control. In a statement earlier in the investigation, DHS said the 23-year-old “intentionally ran over” an HSI special agent and that another agent fired “defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public.” The grand jury’s decision did not come with additional explanation from prosecutors, AP reported.

Martinez lived in San Antonio, Texas, and was on a Spring Break trip to South Padre Island when he was shot, AP said. Local media outlets had reported his death at the time, but authorities did not disclose that the encounter involved a team from Homeland Security Investigations, AP reported. DHS described the incident as happening while officers were redirecting traffic around a car accident.

The DHS account described a four-door Ford with a driver and a passenger approaching officers who ordered the driver to stop. Agents then surrounded the vehicle and told those inside to get out, DHS said, after the driver initially did not respond to commands but eventually came to a stop. DHS said the driver then “accelerated forward” and struck an HSI special agent, causing that agent to end up on the hood, and that an HSI supervisory special agent fired multiple times through the open driver’s side window.

Martinez’s family and attorneys disputed that characterization in court-related materials they cited. AP reported that attorneys for the family, skeptical of DHS’ account, said the private nature of grand jury proceedings means they do not know what witnesses or video evidence were presented. The attorneys also called on the Texas Department of Public Safety to disclose findings from its investigation so Martinez’s family could “determine for themselves whether ICE’s story is accurate and why Ruben was killed that night,” according to AP.

AP reported that the attorneys pointed to a draft affidavit from the passenger, Joshua Orta, who was in the car when Martinez was shot. In the draft testimony, Orta reportedly said Martinez did not hit an officer with his vehicle, and that their car was “just crawling.” The affidavit draft also disputed DHS’ depiction of an escalation, saying Orta heard an agent fire into the driver’s side window without “giving any warning, commands, or opportunity to comply.” AP said Orta reportedly recounted hearing Martinez say “I’m sorry” as he slumped backward unconscious.

Orta, described by AP as a key witness to the encounter, died in a car crash last weekend. In the same AP report, Martinez’s mother, Reyes, told AP last week that her son was shot three times. In a statement shared with AP on Wednesday, Martinez’s attorneys said the family considers itself supportive of law enforcement and Trump voters and “just want[s] to be treated honestly and decently,” AP reported.

The AP report also noted that the shooting would be among the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since a nationwide immigration crackdown was launched in President Donald Trump’s second term.