“He took my son’s life for nothing,” says the mother of the man killed by an immigration agent.

Jeff Bennett:

This week last year, Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old US citizen, was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Texas. But ICE did not confirm its involvement until last February, 11 months after the shooting.

It has now become the first publicly known case of ICE fatally shooting a US citizen as part of President Trump’s anti-immigration campaign. While the Department of Homeland Security says Martinez intentionally hit an agent with his car, recently released body camera footage, showing a shooting into Martinez’s car, calls that account into question.

A year later, the Martinez family is still searching for answers.

Joining us now is Ruben Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes, and her attorney, Charles Stamm.

Thank you both for being with us.

Rachel, we’ll start with you.

It’s been a year since you lost your son. Tell us about him. What did he look like? And when you think about it now, what stands out the most?

Rachel Reyes, mother of Ruben Ray Martinez: His presence. He was so funny, down to earth and the light of our home. He was always so relaxed and just a really good kid. He was trying to figure things out. Yes, he was – he was – we missed him so much. I’m sorry. It’s emotional.

Jeff Bennett:

No, I understand.

Well, take us back to that day. How did you first learn that your son had been murdered? In the first hours, what were you told happened?

Rachel Reyes:

So an official came to my house and told me that my son had died. And the way he described the accident is that he got — there was an accident ahead of him that slowed down traffic, and then Robin was going so slowly that one of the officers saw a container in the car.

But he told me he’d let him go anyway, so he let him go. Then the other officer shouted at him not to go. Well, tell me what happened was that he was taken advantage of. My son was coming forward and taking advantage of an officer, that’s why they shot him just for that reason.

And I couldn’t understand this. From day one, it just didn’t make sense to me.

Jeff Bennett:

Well, tell me more about that. At what point did you start to feel like you weren’t getting the full story?

Rachel Reyes:

On the same day. It didn’t make sense to me, because he wouldn’t do it, I don’t understand why they had to do it, because I know my son wouldn’t use his car as a weapon. This didn’t make any sense at all. And I knew something wasn’t right. It never made sense from day one.

Jeff Bennett:

Charles, I want to bring you in and ask you to respond to this statement that we received from DHS.

They say – quote – “We stand by the unanimous decision of the grand jury that found no crime. The incident was investigated from every possible angle by an independent panel and our officer was exonerated.”

You have now reviewed the body camera footage released by the Texas Department of Public Safety. What does this video show and to what extent does it question the government’s narrative?

Charles Stamm, Martinez family attorney:

I think it’s quite questionable.

Nothing we’ve seen in any of the videos suggests that Robin poses a threat to members of the public, to law enforcement, to anyone, period. If you look at the video right before the fatal shots are fired, Robin surrenders at the crosswalk to let several young women pass.

I mean, it’s no laughing matter. Honestly, people who use their cars as weapons, people who are looking to commit acts of terrorism, don’t give up on people crossing the street, okay? Although there are gaps in the video, and although there are periods of the video that are difficult to understand, nothing we saw in the video even remotely justified the use of force against Robin.

Jeff Bennett:

Well, what do you think happened in those final moments, based on your own investigations?

Well, we think Robin got into a confusing scene. It was a scene that many other drivers had trouble navigating. It wasn’t clear to me while watching the body cam whether the cops were indicating a closed lane or an entire road closed.

So a lot of people besides Robin got confused and probably tried to get away. So we start with a problematic scene and omissions regarding traffic safety. That’s really what this is. This is spring break in South Padre. There is nothing political about this. There is nothing to do with immigration processes.

This is really what happens when you bring in the federal police and highly militarized federal officials to do basic day-to-day policing.

Jeff Bennett:

And, Rachel, when you mention spring break, your son was there celebrating his birthday. Is this correct?

Rachel Reyes:

right. Yes it was.

Jeff Bennett:

Charles, it took nearly a year for ICE to publicly acknowledge its role in all of this. In your opinion, what is the reason for this delay?

Charles Stamm:

You know, I hate speculation without any basis in fact.

But what I can tell you is that it matters to us. This requires full accountability and full transparency. Sunlight must be allowed into this process. I mentioned earlier that the grand jury investigation, no, no, no, the grand jury process is primarily confidential.

So we shouldn’t even talk about those deliberations. But the fact that this has been presented to a grand jury, it comes down to evaluating criminal charges against some of these officers. That’s not what — that’s not what’s needed in a civil investigation, which includes law enforcement or the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the Department of Justice or anyone who actually conducts a comprehensive investigation to determine the root cause of this incident in an apolitical way.

Jeff Bennett:

And Charles, there was a key witness, Joshua Orta, who was in the car. He questioned the government’s story. Mr. Orta later died in a car accident. What did he say happened that night?

Charles Stam:

Mr. Orta gave my law firm a statement that largely corroborates what we saw in the video. Mr. Orta was also questioned by law enforcement following this incident before his tragic death.

What I can tell you is that Mr. Orta was adamant that Ruben was probably confused or frightened. He would never, ever, ever attempt to hit, hit, or let alone run over a law enforcement officer. So I think Josh’s statements in all of these statements emphasized that Robin is not a threat.

Jeff Bennett:

Rachel, what is your family asking for now that you haven’t gotten yet?

Rachel Reyes:

Accountability.

Before, we were looking for answers. Now that we’ve seen the videos, we now want justice and accountability, because, based on the video, Robin wasn’t there that night — he was the only one who tried to calm down. He had his foot on the brake.

Jack Stevens took his life impulsively and aggressively for no reason. So my son died based on – I think everyone involved in that scene is responsible in one way or another because of the commotion and the chaos and the conflicting orders. I think everyone played a role in this mess. What should have been a routine traffic encounter turned into a tragic event for nothing. So he took my son’s life for nothing.

So I really want justice for that.

Jeff Bennett:

Accountability and justice, what does that look like?

Rachel Reyes:

My son’s death certificate says murder, so whatever was appropriate would have been fair. But since the grand jury failed us, we must now look at other options, whatever they may be.

It’s definitely something that needs to change. They can’t keep doing this to people. He took my son’s life. Then DHS protected him by misrepresenting my son. This is another harm they cause. And this is terrible. It’s just–this whole situation is wrong. This should never happen.

Jeff Bennett:

May I ask how you are doing at this moment? How are you?

Rachel Reyes:

It was hard. It was incredibly overwhelming. It’s hard. It’s been really hard, just dealing with everything. And then they seem to keep adding and adding up, for example, the more damage they cause. It’s just–it’s been tough on all of us.

Jeff Bennett:

Yes.

Well, I certainly wish you peace. My condolences on the loss of your son.

Rachel Reyes:

Thank you.

Jeff Bennett:

Rachel Reyes, Charles Stamm, thank you.

Charles Stam:

Thank you Jeff.