Ruben Ray Martinez: 5 things about South Padre Island ICE shooting victim killed months before Renee Good, Alex Pretti

Ruben Ray Martinez was shot dead in Texas and ICE's involvement in the incident has come to light, amid a row over Alex Pretti and Renee Good's killings.

Ruben Ray Martinez was shot dead in South Padre Island, Texas by law enforcement officials. However, recently, it has come to light that United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was involved in the incident.

Ruben Ray Martinez is the third US citizen to be shot dead by ICE in recent times. (X/@TheJFreakinC)

The victim was shot multiple times on March 15, 2025 when he allegedly failed to follow an ICE officer's commands to exit his vehicle, as per New York Times. The news of ICE's involvement comes amid an ongoing row over the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, which came amid federal officials' deployment in Minnesota.

Here's what to know Martinez, who was shot dead by an ICE agent.

Ruben Ray Martinez: 5 things to know

1. Martinez's mother, Rachel Reyes, described her son as hard-working and said he did not have a history of confronting law enforcement officials. “He was a good kid. He doesn’t have a criminal history. He never got in trouble. He was never violent,” his mother said.
2. Martinez is believed to have been celebrating a friend's birthday in South Padre Island. He was with someone he'd known from school, his mother told the publication.
3. He was shot five days after turning 23 and reportedly worked at an Amazon warehouse in San Antonio.
4. As per ICE documents Martinez initially did not follow officers’ instructions.
5. When agents surrounded his car, Martinez allegedly accelerated and hit a federal agent, who landed on the roof of the car. This is when another agent fired multiple shots through the driver's side window.

Following this, Martinez was taken to a hospital in Brownsville and later pronounced dead. The Department of Homeland Security described the shooting as an act of self defense. They said the agent “fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public.”

However, lawyers for the family have claimed that the government's version of events is not consistent with eyewitness accounts. They have called for high standards of accountability in the case. “It is critical that there is a full and fair investigation into why H.S.I. was present at the scene of a traffic collision and why a federal officer shot and killed a U.S. citizen as he was trying to comply with instructions from the local law enforcement officers directing traffic,” they said.

Martinez's mother also said she disagreed with the government's description of her son, and wrote “What they’re saying is different from what they told the family, so that’s adding insult to injury. They are making it sound different. I don’t appreciate their language,” she added.