‘AWFUL TRAGEDY’

Key Witness to Fatal ICE Shooting Dies at 25

The man died before signing vital legal papers.

A critical witness to the fatal shooting of an American citizen by an ICE officer last year has died. Joshua Orta, 25, died on Saturday in a car accident on a San Antonio highway. He was in the passenger seat when his friend Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was shot and killed in South Texas on March 15 last year. Authorities said Martinez refused to exit his vehicle, however a statement by Orta seen by The New York Times said the two men offered no resistance to law enforcement officers. Orta’s statement, which was given to lawyers last September, said they were attempting to comply with demands and turn the vehicle around when the situation got out of control and Martinez was shot by an ICE officer. Orta had yet to sign the statement and was planning to cooperate with investigators hired by Martinez’s family. Alex Stamm, a lawyer for Martinez’s mother, said Orta’s death was an “awful tragedy” and noted “the world has also now lost a critical eyewitness.” He added, “We believe Joshua’s account” and said that as ICE-related events in Minneapolis and Chicago have demonstrated, “it is critical that the public be shown every piece of evidence in the government’s possession, and that any witness come forward.” The Department of Homeland Security told the Times that the shooting was an act of self-defense and the ICE agent “fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents and the general public.” They claimed the driver “ran over” a Homeland Security Investigation special agent. The Daily Beast has contacted the DHS for comment.