HSI Agent Kills US Citizen Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island; Federal Role Undisclosed for 11 Months

What happened

At about 12:40 a.m. on March 15, 2025, Homeland Security Investigations agents were helping local police with traffic control at an accident scene at Padre Boulevard and Marlin Street on South Padre Island, Texas. Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old US citizen from San Antonio, drove up in a blue Ford (Newsweek).

ICE's internal account says the driver "failed to follow instructions and attempted to continue," that after commands to exit "the driver accelerated forward, striking a HSI special agent" who ended up on the hood, and that another agent "discharged multiple rounds at the driver through the open driver's side window." DHS said the driver "intentionally ran over" an agent and that another agent "fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public" (Newsweek). The agent who was struck had a knee injury (Newsweek; Scripps News). The shooter was HSI Supervisory Special Agent Jack Stevens, who fired three rounds (Scripps News). Stevens told investigators that "the driver's eyes were open widely, fist clenched to the steering wheel" (Scripps News).

Martinez's death was reported locally in 2025 as a shooting involving a police officer; those reports "did not identify HSI involvement" (Newsweek), and DHS did not publicly disclose that its agents were involved until media reported it (Scripps News). Newsweek reported the federal involvement on February 18, 2026, from ICE records obtained by the watchdog group American Oversight through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Police body-camera footage, released in March 2026 after a public records request by the Associated Press and other outlets, shows the vehicle "barely moving" and "slowly moving" during the encounter. The passenger, Joshua Orta, told investigators the car came to "a full stop" and then: "It was just slowly moving and they started shooting." He said Martinez had been drinking earlier that night, then "panicked and turned the wheel," and that "as far as like running over an officer ... he wouldn't do that." Of the agent, Orta said: "I saw the officer kind of get on the hood. Like he didn't hit him, but like he kind of like, you know what I mean, caught his feet" (Scripps News).

Orta died on February 21, 2026 in an unrelated car crash. Scripps News reported on March 7, 2026 that a grand jury had declined "last week" to charge Stevens and that the Texas Rangers had closed their investigation. DHS said it "stands by the grand jury's unanimous decision that found no criminality." Lawyers for Martinez's mother, Rachel Reyes, said the evidence "shows no justification for Ruben's killing."

Legal analysis

Arbitrary deprivation of life (ICCPR Art. 6) and excessive force (Fourth Amendment).

• Lethal force by a state agent: met and acknowledged.
• Necessity and proportionality: contested; reasonable basis to believe not met. Firing three rounds through the side window of a car that video shows "barely moving" is difficult to reconcile with an imminent threat to life. Against that, the passenger himself said the agent "kind of" got on the hood, which supports some contact.
• Procedural duty to investigate: in question. Article 6 requires investigations that are prompt, independent, effective and transparent, with sufficient public scrutiny. For about 11 months the public record did not show that a federal agent had killed Martinez, and the key eyewitness died before the evidence became public. The investigation ended in a secret grand jury decision.

Not an international crime. No armed conflict, and no showing that this killing formed part of a widespread or systematic attack on a civilian population (Rome Statute Art. 7).

Strongest defence argument. A grand jury that heard the evidence declined to indict, and the passenger's own account describes the agent on the hood of a moving car. An officer on the hood of a car being driven against commands may reasonably fear for his life. This is a serious argument and is why the evidence threshold here is a reasonable basis, not more. It does not explain DHS's public claim that Martinez "intentionally ran over" an agent, which the released video does not show, or the long absence of public disclosure.

Why this grade

Severe. The rubric's severe grade covers "use of excessive force by state agents" causing concrete harm to an identifiable person. A US citizen was killed, the official account is contradicted by the video, and the federal role was not publicly known for 11 months. It is not critical because, as a single incident, it is not shown here as a structural violation. No international crime is plausibly in play at the Article 53(1) level, so no evidence classification is assigned.