The only passenger in the car when an American citizen was shot dead by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Texas last year has died in a separate car accident, according to a report.
Joshua Orta, 25, was in the passenger seat when his friend, Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was shot multiple times and killed by an ICE agent on March 15, 2025, after federal authorities said he failed to comply with orders to exit his vehicle
Orta planned to share his account of the events, which contradict the government’s account of the shooting, before he died in an unrelated car crash this past weekend, The New York Times reported.
Orta detailed his version of events in a written statement, which was taken in September by lawyers representing Martinez’s family, for future legal proceedings.
In the statement, Orta said he and Martinez did not resist law enforcement officers and were trying to comply with their command to turn the car around when the situation escalated and Martinez was shot, the Times reported.
He was planning to sign the statement and cooperate with investigators hired by Marintez’s family before he died in a car crash on a San Antonio highway this past Saturday.
A preliminary San Antonio police report said the person behind the wheel was driving “at a high rate of speed” when he attempted to exit the highway and lost control of the vehicle. Orta’s stepfather confirmed he was involved in the accident to the Times.
“First and foremost, Joshua’s death is an awful tragedy for his family and friends, and the Reyes family is grieving with them,” said Alex Stamm, a lawyer for Rachel Reyes, the mother of Martinez. “In terms of Ruben’s death, the world has also now lost a critical eyewitness.”
“We believe Joshua’s account, and, as we have seen recently in Minneapolis, Chicago and elsewhere, it is critical that the public be shown every piece of evidence in the government’s possession, and that any witness come forward,” Stamm said.
When asked about the March shooting, the Department of Homeland Security said a federal agent had fatally shot a man to “protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public.”
“A driver of a blue Ford intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent resulting in him being on the hood of the vehicle. Upon witnessing this, another agent fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public,” a DHS spokesperson previously told The Independent. “This incident is under active investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety Ranger Division.”
The Independent has contacted DHS for further comment on the shooting.
During the March incident, Martinez initially did not follow officers’ instructions to stop his vehicle, but eventually stopped after receiving verbal commands, according to internal ICE documents viewed by the Times.
Federal agents surrounded the vehicle and ordered Martinez to get out of the car. Instead, he accelerated and hit a federal agent, who landed on the roof of the car, the document continue.
A different agent then fired multiple times through the driver’s side window. Martinez was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. The family’s lawyer confirmed to the Times that he was the victim mentioned in the ICE report.
However, Orta’s September statement contradicted the agency’s version of events. Orta wrote that they had been celebrating Martinez’s 23rd birthday when they came upon the scene of a car crash.
The two friends then became concerned because they had an open container of alcohol in the car. However, when they were approached by an officer at the scene, they were told to turn around. Orta wrote in the statement that there wasn’t any room to move the car as traffic was backed up due to the accident.
“As we inched forward in traffic to get turned around, another officer, a state trooper, walked up to our car” and “slapped the hood,” he wrote.
An officer “seemed to be trying to get in front of the car,” when the situation escalated and officers began to yell at them before drawing their guns, according to Orta’s written account.
Orta said the agent fired “multiple shots” through the open driver’s window “without giving any warning, commands or opportunity to comply.”
“I heard Ruben say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then he slumped backward,” Orta added.
Orta wrote that he saw the officers place Martinez face down on the ground and handcuff him after he had been shot in the chest.
“Ruben was unarmed, nonviolent, not fleeing and not resisting at the time he was shot. His killing was unjustified and excessive,” he wrote.
The March shooting remains under investigation by the Texas Rangers. The Independent has reached out to the state agency for comment.
It was not immediately clear whether the absence of Orta’s signed witness statement will impact the investigation into the shooting.
Martinez’s shooting unfolded months before Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, both American citizens, were killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
Boebert calls for Texas Republican to resign over affair allegations
Geno Auriemma’s 655th AP Top 25 appearance moves him past Tara VanDerveer
Underage pregnant migrants are being moved to a state where abortion is illegal
Trump’s polling keeps getting worse, can a State of the Union speech fix it?
At least 73 people dead after Mexican cartel drug lord El Mencho killed: Live updates
Trump jokes he’d be ‘impeached’ if he excluded women’s hockey team from White House
