BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – The case against three former San Antonio police officers charged in the 2023 shooting death of Melissa Perez, a woman who experienced a mental health crisis, will go to trial this week in a case that has drawn national attention and renewed scrutiny of police response protocols.
The trial for the former SAPD members — Sgt. Alfred Flores and officers Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos — began Thursday with jury selection. Flores and Alejandro have each been charged with murder while Villalobos faces an aggravated assault by a public servant charge.
The shooting happened around 2 a.m. on June 23, 2023, after firefighters responded to Perez’s Southwest Side apartment for reports that she was damaging a fire alarm. Police were called for backup after firefighters said Perez was acting erratically.
Body camera footage released by San Antonio police showed Perez, 46, refusing to come out of her apartment. Officers were seen removing a window screen from her balcony before she tried to close the window and told them to stop.
Moments later, officers raised their guns after Perez could be seen holding a hammer before gunfire erupted.
SAPD Chief William McManus said afterward that Perez was having a mental health crisis and that the officers’ actions were “not consistent with SAPD policy and training.”
The officers were arrested and later fired from the department.
Perez’s daughter, Alexis Tovar, spoke publicly following the shooting with ABC News, including “Good Morning America.”
“We have always been a pro-police family,” Tovar told ABC News. “This breaks my heart.”
The three former officers were indicted nearly six months after the shooting.
Their trial, which was initially set for September 2024, was delayed after defense and state attorneys requested more preparation time. The case was reassigned from Judge Stephanie Boyd to Judge Ron Rangel in the 379th District Court, where pretrial matters have since been resolved.
If convicted, Flores, Alejandro and Villalobos each face up to life in prison.
KSAT 12 News will livestream the trial on KSAT.com, KSAT Plus and KSAT’s YouTube channel as a part of its Open Court coverage.
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