TEXAS — A Texas grand jury in late February declined to bring charges against Homeland Security Investigations Supervisory Special Agent Jack Stevens in the fatal shooting of 23-year-old U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez during a traffic encounter on March 15, 2025. Martinez was shot and killed by the ICE agent on South Padre Island in south Texas.

"We stand by the grand jury's unanimous decision that found no criminality. This incident was investigated from every possible angle by an independent body, and it cleared our officer." Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said. Homeland Security Investigations operates under ICE.

Martinez and his friend Joshua Orta had driven to South Padre Island from San Antonio. Earlier that evening, a car wreck had occurred at a busy intersection, and officers from the South Padre Island Police, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Homeland Security Investigations were on scene managing traffic. Body camera footage released by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows an officer signaling Martinez to pull over. In a police report released by the department, Texas Game Warden Juan Rosendo said he spotted an open bottle of alcohol in Martinez's car.

Body camera recordings captured an officer saying "keep going" and another yelling "Stop" and "Hold him." Footage then shows Martinez's car coming to a full stop. Two officers approached the front of the car and one attempted to open the door. The car then slowly moved forward and to the left. Three shots rang out in quick succession.

An ICE incident report stated that Martinez accelerated his car and struck a federal agent, prompting another officer to fire defensive shots. Body camera videos, however, show federal agents standing in front of Martinez's car as it slowly moved, and it is unclear from the footage whether the car hit an agent. Body camera footage shows the shooter pulling Martinez's body out of the car and onto the ground. Martinez was handcuffed and received medical attention over a minute later. Orta was taken into questioning later that night. "Without giving any warning, commands, or opportunity to comply, the agent fired multiple shots at Ruben from an extremely close distance — no more than two feet. I heard Ruben say, 'I'm sorry,' and then he slumped backward," Orta said in a statement to investigators. "Ruben did not hit anyone," he added.

The day after the shooting, a Texas Ranger visited the home of Rachel Reyes, Martinez's mother, to inform her that Martinez had been fatally shot by an officer. The Ranger did not mention that the officer worked for ICE. Nearly a year after her son's death, Reyes learned that ICE was responsible for his killing, according to public records. "It never made sense to me. Ruben wouldn't use his car to hurt anyone, ever," she said. Martinez had planned to enroll in a trade school to become a mechanic and had found an apartment as he prepared to move out of his family's home. "He would speak with enthusiasm, like he was looking forward to doing things. He thought he'd have more time. We all thought he would have more time," Reyes said.

Martinez is considered the first of at least six people killed by immigration agents since the start of President Trump's second term, a period that also saw the fatal shootings of Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti in separate incidents in Minneapolis.