SAN ANTONIO — Two weeks after a trio of San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) officers were charged with murder after officials said they killed a woman undergoing a mental health crisis, the victim's family has filed a civil lawsuit against them.
Melissa Perez, 46, was fatally shot in the early-morning hours of June 23 by police who responded after she tinkered with her fire alarm, sparking the arrival of law enforcement. Within 18 hours, the three officers in question were suspended from the force and jailed, their actions condemned by Chief William McManus as "not consistent with SAPD evidence and training."
The family of Perez said early on it was intending to file a complaint against the three officers, Eleazar Alejandro, Nathanial Villalobos and Alfred Flores. On Friday evening the family's legal representation with the Packard Law Firm announced it had done so, claiming in the wrongful-death suit that "SAPD's formal and informal policies were the moving force behind Ms. Perez's death."
"Policymakers at the city, including Chief McManus, certainly know that there is a persistent and serious problem of excessive force within SAPD and there there is a serious enforcement problem within SAPD," the complaint alleges, specifically citing a structure that prevented the department's mental health unit from responding to the scene on June 23.
>>Read the full complaint below
The suit accuses the three officers of using excessive force and SAPD of escalating mental health encounters to "unnecessary" and "objectively unreasonable" degrees. It goes on to cite several examples of police responses in San Antonio that ended in violence, including the fatal case of Jesse Aguirre in 2013 and the shooting of 17-year-old Eric Cantu last October.
Saturday, the City of San Antonio responded to the lawsuit, saying:
“The San Antonio Police Department has well established training, policies and procedures in place that preserve the Constitutional rights of our residents. The officers involved in this incident didn’t follow proper training, policies and procedures. We will seek a speedy resolution through the judicial system.”
Previous suspensions
The newly filed lawsuit also claims Flores and Alejandro were previously suspended for apparent misconduct in situations where "the punishment should have been much greater."
In June of 2017, the suit states, Flores was involved with some kind of "disturbance" after leaving his assigned area, the details of which remain unclear. He was given a 10-day suspension. Later, the suit states, Flores received a one-day suspension for failing to turn on his body camera in a situation where he allegedly pulled his gun on a resident who had been tailgating him.
The suit cites multiple apparent short-term suspensions handed down to Alejandro for situations involving his refusal to arrest individuals involved in potential crimes.
"He was willing to disregard his duties and ignore policy," the suit says of Alejandro's on-duty history.
Perez's family is seeking a jury trial and punitive damages from the three officers, all of whom were released on bond shortly after their arrests.
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