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A Bexar County jury on Monday acquitted three former San Antonio Police Department officers in the 2023 shooting death of Melissa Perez, a 46-year-old mother of four who was experiencing a mental health crisis.
The jury found Alfred Flores, Eleazar Alejandro, and Nathaniel Villalobos not guilty on all charges after ninety minutes of deliberation.
Over the past month, prosecutors argued the former officers wrongfully shot Perez in her home while the defense said they acted in self-defense and that investigators rushed to judgment.
Police were called to the Perez's Southwest Side apartment in June of 2023 after reports were made that she was cutting wires from her complex's fire alarm system. Perez, who had schizophrenia, initially told officers she was cutting the wires because the FBI was spying on her.
Police said Perez threw a candlestick at officers who were trying to get her to come outside, and she later charged at them with a hammer from behind a glass door — when two officers opened fire — killing her.
The three officers were arrested and charged with murder 24 hours later.
During a month of testimony, the defense focused on the investigation right after the incident.
Retired Sergeant Lisa Miller, who served nearly 30 years with SAPD, took the stand as a defense expert witness. She said the lead investigator, Detective Ronald Soto, moved too quickly when he filed arrest warrants 16 hours after the shooting.
Miller said key officers who could have testified about whether deadly force was justified were never interviewed by investigators.
Miller also alleged that SAPD leadership faced political pressure in the aftermath of national protests over police violence, an accusation the lead investigator has denied.
Prosecutors countered that the officers had safer options and that deadly force was unnecessary.
Ultimately, the jury sided with the defense — finding the former officers not guilty on all charges. Each had faced life in prison if convicted. Flores and Eleazar were charged with murder and Villalobos was charged with aggravated assault.
In September, a judge dismissed a civil lawsuit filed by the family of Melissa Perez against the City of San Antonio and its police department over the shooting death.
However, the incident exposed concerns about how SAPD handles calls involving people in mental health crisis.
Family members said Perez was showing signs of distress the night she was killed. Despite that, no mental health officers or crisis response specialists were sent to the scene.
SAPD has a dedicated Mental Health Unit trained to de-escalate such encounters, but it wasn’t available at the time of the call. The absence of that team reignited questions about whether the city’s approach relies too heavily on armed officers.
In the aftermath of the shooting death, advocates pushed for reform — including expanding 24-hour crisis response and embedding behavioral-health professionals in more patrol units.
