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[NYTimes] Key Witness Who Disputed ICE Account of Fatal Texas Shooting Dies in Car Accident 𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘙𝘶𝘣𝘦𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘺 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘻 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘔𝘳. 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘻 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘩𝘶𝘢 𝘖𝘳𝘵𝘢, 𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺. ❝The only passenger in the car when an American citizen was shot and killed by a federal officer in South Texas last year had planned to speak up and contradict the government’s account of the shooting. However, the passenger, Joshua Orta, died in an unrelated car crash over the weekend. Mr. Orta, 25, was in the passenger seat on March 15, 2025, when his childhood friend, Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was shot multiple times in South Padre Island by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer after the authorities said he failed to comply with commands to exit his vehicle. In a written statement obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Orta said that the two men had offered no resistance to law enforcement officers and were trying to comply with commands to turn around the car when the situation got out of control and Mr. Martinez was shot. Mr. Orta had provided his version of events in the statement, which was taken in September by lawyers representing Mr. Martinez’s family to be used for future legal proceedings. He was planning to sign the statement and cooperate with investigators hired by the family before he died Saturday in a car crash on a San Antonio highway. The stepfather who raised him confirmed his death to The Times on Sunday. “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 Mr. 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,” Mr. Stamm added. When asked about Mr. Martinez’s killing last week, the Department of Homeland Security described the shooting as an act of self-defense, saying the agent had “fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents and the general public” after the driver “ran over” a Homeland Security Investigation special agent. In a statement Sunday, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said, “We stand by our original statement.” In an interview in the family’s San Antonio home Sunday afternoon, John Arriaga, 47, a landscaper, said Mr. Orta had shown signs of trauma since he had witnessed his friend’s killing. Mr. Arriaga said Mr. Orta had planned to talk to lawyers and investigators about what he saw. “He told me that he was involved and that he was going to testify,” Mr. Arriaga said. “He said, ‘I need to do whatever I have to do because of my friend.’” The episode involving ICE occurred around 12:40 a.m. on March 15, when, according to internal agency documents reviewed by The Times, Mr. Martinez initially did not follow officers’ instructions to stop his vehicle. He eventually slowed to a stop after receiving verbal commands. Federal agents then surrounded his vehicle and told him to get out of the car before Mr. Martinez accelerated and hit a federal agent who landed on the roof of the car, according to the government documents. A different agent fired multiple times through the driver’s side window. Mr. Martinez was transported to a hospital in Brownsville, Texas, where he died. The documents did not name the officers involved in the encounter. Charles Stam, another lawyer for the Martinez family, confirmed that Mr. Martinez was the victim mentioned in the ICE report.❞ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/us/ice-shooting-texas-witness-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OlA.tvVF.M1d6KpnIbu2b&smid=url-share

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