“We refuse to let them use my brother’s death in vain, to give them self justification for their actions. Justice will be served, Ruben and my brother.”
SAN ANTONIO — Dozens of people gathered outside City Hall on Saturday to mark the approaching one-year anniversary of the death of Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old San Antonio resident who was shot and killed by a federal immigration officer on South Padre Island.
The vigil honored Martinez’s life while also calling for renewed scrutiny of the shooting after a grand jury recently declined to file criminal charges against the officer involved.
Supporters chanted “Justice for Ruben” as speakers called for transparency and an independent investigation into the March 2025 incident.
“Tomorrow will be one year since the murder of San Antonio resident Ruben Ray Martinez,” Corrie Rosen, Community Organizer, told the crowd. “We’re here to celebrate his life but also to demand justice.”
Martinez was shot just before midnight on March 15, 2025, after driving up to the scene of a crash where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer Jack Stevens was assisting South Padre Island police.
Body camera footage released by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows Stevens firing three shots at Martinez. Authorities have said Martinez failed to follow commands and drove his vehicle into an officer.
“He doesn’t stop and then all of a sudden he drives, and when he drives he was bumper on me,” One ICE officer says in the video.
However, Martinez’s best friend and the only passenger in the car, Joshua Orta, previously gave a different account of what happened.
“He didn’t floor it or nothing. It was just slowly moving,” Orta said in an earlier interview. “I know he didn’t mean to hurt no officer. He wouldn’t do nothing like that.”
Orta died last month in a crash in San Antonio before he could testify before the grand jury that later declined to indict anyone in the shooting.
Members of Orta’s family attended Saturday’s vigil. Speaking on behalf of the family, Orta’s brother said they would continue to seek accountability.
“We refuse to let them use my brother’s death in vain to justify their actions,” he said. “Justice will be served for Ruben and my brother.”
Martinez’s mother did not attend the vigil but sent a statement that was read to the crowd. In it, relatives said they were grateful that people gathered to remember him and emphasized that his life was more than the circumstances of his death.
“My family grieves with so many others that have lost children to events that could and should have been avoided,” the statement said. “It is time now for transparency and accountability.”
Organizers said they are demanding the release of additional body camera footage, an independent investigation into the shooting and what they describe as acknowledgment of a cover-up.
In a statement, officials with the Department of Homeland Security said they stand by the grand jury’s decision. The agency said the incident was investigated by an independent body and that Stevens was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.