Rachel Reyes says her son did not deserve to be killed
Ruben Martinez’s mother
“This is a young, sweet, funny, silly boy who spent his first night outside of his home. He did not deserve this.”
Open source (opens in a new tab)What happened when an ICE agent shot and killed Ruben Martinez on South Padre Island?Sections recounting Alex Stamm’s assessment and Rachel Reyes’s first public interview
Source and context
Reporting
What happened when an ICE agent shot and killed Ruben Martinez on South Padre Island? (opens in a new tab)Sections recounting Alex Stamm’s assessment and Rachel Reyes’s first public interview
About this source
The report compares official descriptions of the encounter with witness, family and attorney accounts.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Reyes spoke in her first public interview after her son’s death.
After the quotation
Her remarks appeared in reporting that compared the family’s account with official descriptions of the encounter.
How this statement is classified
Condemned
Case context: Was HSI Special Agent Jack Stevens justified in fatally shooting Ruben Ray Martinez?
The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.
Why this label?
Her statement directly rejects the outcome as undeserved and therefore condemns the use of deadly force.
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Was HSI Special Agent Jack Stevens justified in fatally shooting Ruben Ray Martinez?
Explore the case context, sources and public responses.
More from this case
Read the full case“Let us remember the names of those whom ICE has murdered. The first one was a San Antonian, Ruben Ray Martinez. There was another Texan, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston. Renee Good, Alex Pretti, and Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero—these folks were victims of the ICE murders.”Read statement
“Ruben didn’t place anyone in danger of death or serious injury, and that it wasn’t legally or morally justifiable to kill Ruben in these circumstances.”Read statement
“We stand by the grand jury's unanimous decision that found no criminality.”Read statement