AUSTIN, Texas — Newly released body camera and security footage has raised questions about the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old San Antonio man by a federal immigration agent last year in South Padre Island.
The Texas Department of Public Safety late Friday released the video showing the moments before Ruben Ray Martinez was shot by an agent from Homeland Security Investigations.
The footage, reviewed by the Texas Tribune, shows Martinez slowly driving past officers directing traffic near an accident on the island’s main road. At several points, his brake lights appear illuminated as he interacts with officers before gunshots are suddenly heard.
The videos do not show Martinez striking an officer with his car — a claim federal officials have previously made — but they also do not conclusively disprove it. The recordings come from multiple angles and some lack key audio, and the agent who fired the shots was not wearing a body camera.
Martinez was shot multiple times in March 2025 after driving toward an intersection where officers were managing traffic. According to a report released by DPS investigators, a federal agent fired after Martinez failed to stop his vehicle, which authorities described as “slowly driving forward.”
Lawyers representing Martinez’s family disputed that account.
“This batch of evidence shows no justification for Ruben’s killing,” attorneys Charles Stam and Alex Stamm said in a joint statement. “We, and the public, have yet to see all of the evidence held by the government.”
A passenger in Martinez’s car, Joshua Orta, told officers during questioning that he did not believe Martinez struck the agent or intended to do so. Orta said he saw an officer leaning on the car’s hood but did not see Martinez run anyone over. Orta later died in an unrelated car crash earlier this year.
The shooting occurred while Martinez was celebrating his birthday with friends in the popular vacation destination roughly 30 miles from the Mexican border. Footage shows confusion among drivers navigating around an accident scene while officers shouted instructions.
Seconds after Martinez’s car entered the intersection, officers are heard yelling “Out of the vehicle now” before gunshots ring out at about 11:42 p.m. Officers then pulled Martinez from the vehicle, handcuffed him and called for an ambulance. He was transported to a hospital in Brownsville, where he later died.
A toxicology report found alcohol, marijuana and alprazolam in Martinez’s system, according to records.
The agent who fired the shots, identified in records as Jack Stevens, said in a written statement that Martinez gripping the steering wheel and looking past officers appeared to be a “pre-attack indicator” and that he feared “numerous casualties.”
However, Martinez’s lawyers argue the footage shows the car was barely moving and that the agent was not in danger when the shots were fired.
After the shooting became public last month, a Cameron County grand jury declined to issue a criminal indictment in the case. Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes, has called for accountability and said she does not believe the government’s version of events.
“He was not a violent person,” Reyes told CBS News. “He was not aggressive.”
