San Antonio, Texas — SAN ANTONIO — For nearly a year and a half, Rachel Reyes has left her son Ruben Ray Martinez’s bedroom exactly as he left it.
His clothes still hang in the closet. His boots remain where he last took them off. Family photographs still sit beside an image of the Virgen de Guadalupe.
“It’s been hard because he added so much energy to the home, and now it’s just so quiet,” Reyes said. “You can feel the difference with him not here.”
Now, for the first time since losing her 23-year-old son during a spring break trip to South Padre Island, Reyes is sharing her story publicly.
She invited FOX San Antonio Investigates into her home to talk about the loss of her son, the body camera video released months after his death, and why she believes many questions remain unanswered.
“I wanted people to know who Ruben really was,” Reyes said. “He was a good kid. He was very humble, happy, and easygoing. He never bothered anybody. He was very loving to his niece and nephews. He was a good son and a good brother.”
According to Reyes, Martinez had just celebrated his birthday and was taking his first overnight trip away from home without his family. It was supposed to be a one-night trip with his lifelong best friend.
Instead, she was awakened by a knock at her front door.
“He came to my door and said, ‘Are you the mother of Ruben Ray Martinez?’ Then he said, ‘On behalf of the State of Texas, I regret to inform you your son Ruben Martinez passed away last night,'” Reyes recalled.
Authorities said Martinez was shot by a Homeland Security Investigations agent after investigators alleged his vehicle struck a federal agent who was directing traffic near another crash in South Padre Island during spring break.
Nearly a year later, body camera video recorded by responding officers was released publicly. The HSI agents involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras.
After finally watching the footage, Reyes said she believes the audio captures conflicting commands being shouted moments before the shooting.
She said she heard one officer yell, “Stop the vehicle,” while another voice said, “Move.”
“They told him to go down there, and then the other one starts yelling,” Reyes said. “I’m sure he was confused. He was trying to comply.”
Reyes said she repeatedly watched the video searching for answers.
She also said what happened after the shooting was especially painful to watch.
“Even after they shot him, the way they tackled him, handcuffed him and left him there bleeding in the street, that’s devastating to watch,” she said.
Reyes said waiting nearly 11 months before she was able to watch the body camera video made the grieving process even more difficult.
She is now represented by attorney Butch Hayes.
After reviewing the publicly released videos, Hayes said he believes the recordings raise questions about what happened that night.
“The videos show a dramatically different story than what these officers have put in their statements,” Hayes said.
Hayes said the family is evaluating whether to file a federal civil lawsuit.
He said such litigation could allow attorneys to obtain records they have not yet seen, including training records, internal investigations, and other documents related to the shooting.
“We’re free to file a lawsuit. We haven’t done it yet because we want to make sure it’s a very deliberate, thoughtful process,” Hayes said.
A Cameron County grand jury later declined to indict the Homeland Security Investigations agent involved in the shooting.
That decision, Reyes said, has not changed her determination to continue seeking answers.
“My love for him… I know my son,” she said. “I know he wouldn’t do that. So I just keep going.”
She said she also continues defending the person she believes many people never had the chance to know.
“It breaks my heart,” Reyes said. “My granddaughter would say, ‘I want to see him.’ And I’d tell her, ‘So do I.'”
Hayes said beyond the legal issues surrounding the case, he hopes people remember the family living with the loss.
“Every parent, whether it’s ever said out loud or not, has one goal—not to outlive their child,” Hayes said. “I can’t imagine the horror a parent goes through watching a young man they love be taken from them unnecessarily.”
Reyes said she has kept her son’s bedroom untouched, not because she refuses to move forward, but because it helps her remain close to him.
“He didn’t have to die,” Reyes said. “It could have been handled another way. Ruben did not deserve to die. Ruben was not a threat that night. He was never a threat to anyone.”
Homeland Security Investigations has previously said the agent fired after Martinez’s vehicle struck another federal agent during the encounter.
Reyes and Hayes dispute that characterization and maintain that additional records are needed to fully understand what happened that night.
The Cameron County grand jury declined to indict the HSI agent involved in the shooting. Hayes said the family continues to evaluate a possible federal civil lawsuit as it seeks additional answers.