Witness who saw friend fatally shot by immigration agent in Texas last year dies in car accident

The passenger in the car when Texas driver Ruben Ray Martinez was fatally shot last year by a federal immigration agent gave a lengthy statement to lawyers for the slain man's family disputing the government's version of events. Joshua Orta rode with Martinez on a Spring Break trip last March when they came upon a group of local police and federal agents directing traffic around an accident at a busy intersection. In a statement issued Friday, the Department of Homeland Security alleged that Martinez “intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent,” thereby causing another agent to fire “defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public.”