Three former San Antonio police officers were indicted Thursday in the shooting death of a mentally ill woman this summer.
A Bexar County grand jury said Officer Eleazar Alejandro and Sgt. Alfred Flores will face murder charges for killing Melissa Perez.
Officer Nathaniel Villalobos was indicted for aggravated assault.
"The reduction in the charging document handed down by the Grand Jury does not change our position that Nathaniel is innocent of this allegation," said Nico LaHood, Villalobos' attorney. Attorneys for the other men did not respond to TPR's requests for comment.
The shooting prompted calls for reform within the department, questions from mental health advocates and a civil rights lawsuit from Perez’s family.
Since the shooting, details of the disciplinary records for Alejandro and Flores revealed multiple serious infractions that called into question how the department supervises its forces. Some of the infractions were considered terminal by experts TPR consulted.
Perez was in the midst of a mental health breakdown when police arrived at her apartment complex in the early hours of June 23. The fire department had called them —according to the arrest affidavits — because the woman attempted to dismantle fire alarms she thought the FBI used to monitor her.
Perez suffered from schizophrenia and had exhibited odd and irrational behavior.
Body camera footage showed she ran from an officer when he arrived and barricaded herself inside her home.
Officers tried multiple times to enter the home but she repelled them. She threw a candlestick, striking one officer.
“You're gonna get shot,” he yelled.
“Shoot me!” she yelled back.
Minutes later she was fired upon by the three officers. Only bullets from Flores and Alejandro struck her, ballistics revealed, according to a source with knowledge.
SAPD commanders said the men violated protocol, and they were arrested hours later.
The department has been highly critical of the men, and it defended itself against criticism of its policies and training — repeatedly stating there are no gaps in the training.
Perez's family said justice is not done if only these three officers are fired, since many more SAPD officers were present as witnesses but did nothing to intervene in the escalating situation.
They sued the city and have called for additional reforms. The family said the police had already interacted with Perez during a mental break and knew of her condition, according to the family's legal team.
"As long as the city is trying to wash their hands, obviously nothing's going to change," said Dan Packard, attorney for the family.
Community advocates agreed that the city hasn't done enough to address the needs of the mentally ill and a tragedy like what happened to Perez could happen again.
"At the end of the day the answer here is that cops should not be answering these calls whatsoever because they only escalate the situation and end up hurting or murdering people," said Ananda Thomas, executive director of Act4SA, a nonprofit focused on police accountability in Bexar County.
The city has expanded its non police response to mental health and flagged 911 calls to operate 24 hours a day. It also continues to roll out additional mental health training for police.
In a statement to TPR, the city declined to respond to the accusations levied by the family. "Given the indictments we will let the criminal process run its course and not add substantive comment," said Andy Segovia, a city attorney.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said he expects the cases to go to court sometime in the second half of 2024.
“We know that based on what we’ve reviewed that this is a compelling case and that justice demands and certainly for Mellissa N. Perez’s family that we hold these individuals accountable," Gonzales said.
The first-degree murder charges carry sentences of up to life in prison.
Joey Palacios contributed to this report.
