SAN ANTONIO — Nearly six months after a trio of San Antonio police officers were arrested for a use of deadly force that Police Chief William McManus called "unreasonable," a grand jury has indicted two of them for murder. The third has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant and deadly conduct.
The three officers – 28-year-old Eleazar Alejandro, 27-year-old Nathaniel Villalobos and 45-year-old Alfred Flores, a sergeant – were taken into custody and suspended without pay on June 23, the same day they fatally shot 46-year-old Melissa Perez, believed to have been suffering a mental health crisis when police say she was tinkering with her fire alarm.
According to officials, she used a hammer to shatter a window from inside her residence after law enforcement arrived, causing one officer to shoot in her direction. When she returned to the patio door, still holding the hammer, the three officers responded by firing again.
They hit her at least twice, according to police, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
McManus later said the actions of the officers were "not consistent with SAPD evidence and training." Meanwhile, Perez's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in July against the officers, saying they should have worked to de-escalate the situation through mental health specialists who officials say were never called to the scene.
Alejandro and Flores were indicted for first-degree murder, manslaughter, deadly conduct and aggravated assault, while Villalobos was indicted for the aggravated assault and deadly conduct.
A spokesperson for the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) said Thursday they remained "indefinitely suspended."
"I commend Chief McManus and the rest of the command staff for making this very difficult decision and standing up for Melissa Perez," Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said. "I also want to underscore that 99% of the San Antonio Police department community do an outstanding job. They have to do their job effectively, honestly and within the confines of the law. It’s certainly a rarity when prosecutors have to make a decision to prosecute someone who is on the same side. We try these cases every day, we rely on officers coming to court as witnesses. But no one is above the law."
Pickard Law Firm, which is representing Perez's family, released the following statement:
"The indictments against the individual officers is a good first step, but this cannot end with only the shooting officers being held accountable. Unfortunately, the City of San Antonio is attempting to wash its hands of this whole tragedy. The City has taken the official position that the officers were not even in the scope of their employment when Ms. Perez was killed. The City makes this claim even though the officers were “on the clock” at the time, in full police uniform, and responding to dispatch. Yet, the City would have us believe that they were not really police officers at the time of the shooting. So much needs to be done to make sure that this never happens again, but nothing will change if the City is not honest about the glaring deficiencies in the police department that caused this to happen. For example, currently, the mental health team does not respond to calls late at night. This needs to change. Sergeant Flores and Officer Alejandro had engaged in several prior acts of police misconduct, but they were not adequately disciplined or trained. Indeed, the failure to discipline Sergeant Flores and Officer Alejandro is part of a larger pattern of ignoring police misconduct at SAPD, and this needs to change. In this case, there were 15 different officers on the scene, and none of them did anything to intervene, which shows a serious lack of training. This needs to change. Regarding the improper use of lethal force, the City has a long and well-documented history where its officers improperly used lethal force without any meaningful consequences. This also needs to change. Clearly, nothing will change until the City’s elected officials accept responsibility for the actions of all 15 of the officers who were on duty and were at Ms. Perez’ home that horrible night. Only then can we start to improve. Only then can we start to heal."
The San Antonio Police Officers Association (SAPOA) also released a statement.
“Today, three San Antonio police officers involved in the death of Melissa Perez were formally indicted following a thorough 6-month investigation," said SAPOA President Danny Diaz. "We anticipate a comprehensive and fair judicial trial process.”
This is a developing story.
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