Austin, Texas — Rachel Reyes’ son, 23-year-old American citizen Ruben Ray Martinez, was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent practically one yr in the past. However she stated she’s nonetheless making an attempt to know why.
Reyes stated she has not obtained any movies, proof or official experiences associated to her son’s killing in March 2025. Whereas Martinez’ dying was reported on the time, ICE’s involvement was not publicly disclosed till final month, practically 11 months later.
“I simply wish to know what occurred, why they really feel it was justified, and I actually do not consider that. I am not a mom in denial. I am only a mom unsure, as a result of I do know my son and I do know he is not a menace,” Reyes advised CBS Information throughout her first TV interview since her son’s dying.
“I feel simply figuring out the reality will give me closure,” she added.
Reyes, an American citizen born and raised in Texas, stated her household has deep respect for legislation enforcement officers and famous she voted for President Trump in 2024. However she stated the federal authorities urgently must reform how immigration brokers conduct their duties.
“I do not blame President Trump for the dying of my son, ‘trigger he wasn’t the one who pulled the set off,” Reyes stated. “However I do assume that one thing must be modified in that division so far as the sample of violence or abuse and impunity.”
CBS Information
She took problem with the Division of Homeland Safety’s assertion saying an ICE agent fired “defensive pictures” into Martinez’s car throughout the March 15, 2025 incident on South Padre Island, Texas. DHS accused Martinez of ignoring instructions and “deliberately” working over an ICE agent along with his car.
She stated DHS’ assertion “provides insult to damage, as a result of there was no officer run over and there was no officer injured, and there is contradicting statements, and that makes me distrustful.”
DHS’ account of the incident was disputed by Joshua Orta, Martinez’s shut good friend and a passenger of the car throughout the deadly taking pictures. Orta stated in a draft declaration, shared and ready by Martinez’s attorneys, that his good friend “didn’t hit anybody.” Orta died in a separate automobile crash final month, earlier than he might signal the declaration and testify.
Reyes stated she doesn’t consider DHS’ model of occasions, and that she has but to see any proof to assist it.
“He was not a violent individual. He was not aggressive,” she stated of her son.
CBS Information 
Dueling accounts of deadly taking pictures
Reyes stated her son had traveled with Orta to South Padre Island that weekend to have fun his birthday. She stated it was his first time leaving the San Antonio space with out his household.
An inside ICE report that aligns with the March 2025 incident stated the federal brokers concerned had been serving to South Padre Island cops direct site visitors within the late-night hours after a automobile accident. The report, disclosed via a public information request by the non-profit American Oversight, stated the motive force of a blue Ford “did not comply with directions” when approaching the realm. After instructions from the brokers, the report stated the car “slowed to a cease.” The brokers, the report added, surrounded the automobile and ordered the motive force to exit the car.
The report stated the motive force “accelerated ahead” and struck one of many ICE brokers. At that time, in accordance with the report, one other ICE agent fired “a number of rounds” on the driver via an open aspect window. The driving force was given first assist after which transferred to a neighborhood hospital, the place he was pronounced lifeless.
In a draft declaration, Orta claimed he and Martinez got here throughout cops in South Padre Island after having “just a few drinks” at a good friend’s apartment, unsuccessfully making an attempt to enter a membership, spending a few hours at a pool social gathering and getting meals at Whataburger. Orta stated one legislation enforcement officer noticed that they’d an open container of alcohol within the automobile Martinez was driving. The officer advised them to “flip round and depart,” Orta recounted. Then, Orta alleged, one other officer “walked as much as our automobile (and) slapped the hood.”
Rachel Reyes by way of AP 
“I later realized that the trooper’s report stated that Ruben had ‘hit’ the officer. That is not true. I used to be current, and I state clearly and with out hesitation that Ruben didn’t hit anybody,” his declaration stated. “The trooper appeared to be making an attempt to get in entrance of the automobile, like he wasn’t shifting out of the way in which once we tried to show round and depart just like the police officer advised us to do.”
Orta stated he noticed two or three officers who yelled at them to “cease.” He stated he noticed them draw their weapons.
“This was loopy to me as a result of we had been solely crawling, just like the automobile was in gear, however simply coasting. Ruben by no means hit the gasoline,” Orta stated. “The troopers had been by no means in peril from Ruben and will have simply stepped apart whereas we tried to show round and depart.”
Orta stated an agent, who he later realized labored for ICE, then “approached the motive force’s aspect” of the automobile as they had been making an attempt to show round.
“With out giving any warning, instructions, or alternative to conform, the agent fired a number of pictures at Ruben from an especially shut distance — not more than two toes,” Orta stated. “I heard Ruben say, ‘I am sorry,’ after which he slumped backward.”
The Texas Division of Public Security has been the lead company investigating the deadly taking pictures of Martinez, however it has but to launch any findings publicly. After CBS Information submitted a sequence of questions, together with about Reyes’ feedback, a spokesperson for Texas DPS stated on Thursday its “investigation is full” and that it might launch information associated to the taking pictures someday Friday.
Final month, a grand jury rejected felony expenses within the March 15, 2025 taking pictures.
In an announcement to CBS Information, DHS stated, “This incident was investigated by the state authorities and introduced to a grand jury who unanimously discovered no criminality.” The company stated the ICE agent who shot Martinez discharged his firearm to “shield himself, his fellow brokers, and most people.”
A toxicology display screen carried out after the taking pictures detected alcohol and marijuana in Martinez’s system. Requested in regards to the display screen, Charles Stam, an legal professional representing Martinez’s household, stated Martinez “was by no means stopped on suspicion of public intoxication or driving below the affect or something of that nature.”
“It is necessary to remember that when Ruben misplaced his life, his automobile was in park, and proper after these three bullets got here via the window and went into his chest from that ICE officer, Mr. Orta’s assertion, stated that he stated, ‘I am sorry, sir,’ as his final phrases,” Stam added. “This was not somebody who posed a menace.”
“The sunshine of our home”
Reyes believes there are some similarities between her son’s dying and the deadly shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. They had been all U.S. residents killed by immigration brokers, she famous. Within the three circumstances, she argued, the federal government used “chilly phrases” to “misrepresent” the actions of federal brokers.
However Reyes additionally highlighted some variations, saying her son was not a protester.
“He was only a younger man searching for a spring break birthday celebration,” she stated.
Reyes described him as a “humble” younger man who labored at an Amazon warehouse and who loved music, vehicles, video video games and hanging out with associates.
“He was simply the sunshine of our home,” she stated. “He would all the time make us chuckle.”
Requested what she misses essentially the most about her son, Reyes stated, “Simply his presence.”
“Simply him being there, you recognize? And I am unhappy as a result of I am by no means going to see his youngsters or, you recognize, just like the hopes and desires that he had, (that) he was enthusiastically wanting ahead to,” she stated. “It was simply taken from us. And I really feel it was preventable.”
