BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – The person in charge of conducting Melissa Perez’s autopsy report took the stand on Wednesday afternoon.
Dr. David Lynch, who works for the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office, testified in the trial of three ex-SAPD officers charged with the 2023 murder of Perez.
Eleazar Alejandro, Alfred Flores and Nathaniel Villalobos are on trial for the shooting death of the 46-year-old Perez. She was shot and killed at her Southwest Side apartment in June 2023.
The department has since terminated Alejandro, Flores and Villalobos from the force.
Judge Ron Rangel excused SAPD crime scene investigator Yvonne Diaz, who first took the stand on Monday afternoon. Lynch also revealed details of Perez’s toxicology report.
After Lynch was excused from testimony, a second SAPD crime scene investigator told jurors about her duties in the early morning hours of June 23, 2023.
Below is a full timeline of Wednesday’s court proceedings.
1:43 p.m. - Jurors entered the courtroom.
1:46 p.m. - Ben Sifuentes, co-defense attorney for ex-SAPD officer Eleazar Alejandro, continued his cross-examination of SAPD crime scene investigator Yvonne Diaz.
Diaz returned to the stand for her third day of testimony.
1:47 p.m. - Sifuentes asked Diaz about the potential consequences of failing “to properly document the collection of evidence.”
“So, as far as us not properly documenting evidence, then that could mess up an investigation — what a detective is trying to find, what a detective is trying to see, things of that nature," Diaz told jurors.
1:50 p.m. - According to Sifuentes, SAPD’s general manual states that at least one patrol supervisor is responsible for keeping a log of the officers who enter and leave the scene of a police shooting.
On June 23, 2023, then-SAPD Sgt. Alfred Flores and two other SAPD sergeants would have been considered patrol supervisors. However, due to the police shooting, the three sergeants were required to leave Perez’s apartment to offer their statements to homicide investigators at public safety headquarters in downtown San Antonio.
1:52 p.m. - Diaz told the court that she was not sure if there was any officer who kept the log at Perez’s apartment.
“I do not recall if there was an officer who was actively writing down a crime scene log,” Diaz said. “I do not recall on this case (Melissa Perez police shooting), but I have been to previous scenes where I have to process, and there is usually a patrol officer who is writing down names (and) badge numbers. But I do not recall on this particular day, if there was or was not.”
2:01 p.m. - Diaz shared that she was not directed to photograph batteries, but she was asked to take pictures of one specific thing while on scene.
“The only thing that I was directed to photograph was the closet with the fire alarm (and) the wires cut,” Diaz said.
2:13 p.m. - While at the scene on June 23, 2023, Diaz said she did not take any distance measurements.
2:22 p.m. - Sifuentes passed the witness to Thom Nisbet, a co-defense attorney for ex-SAPD Sgt. Alfred Flores, to begin a line of questioning for Diaz.
2:26 p.m. - Nisbet passed the witness to the prosecution, who did not have any more questions for Diaz.
Diaz was excused from the stand.
2:27 p.m. - The state called Dr. David Lynch with the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office to the stand.
Ron Rangel, the presiding judge in this case, swore Lynch in.
Bexar County prosecutor David Lunan began questioning Lynch.
2:35 p.m. - Lunan approached the stand.
Lunan handed a photo to Lynch, who identified it as Perez by its case number.
2:37 p.m. - A copy of Perez’s autopsy report, toxicology report and body diagram were presented to Lynch.
2:38 p.m. - At this time, the family of Perez exited the courtroom.
2:40 p.m. - In all, Lynch said Perez suffered two gunshot wounds.
“The first gunshot wound is to the right breast,” Lynch said. “This projectile goes through the liver, it goes through the aorta and then it goes through the rib on the left side before being lodged in the body.”
2:50 p.m. - Lynch said Perez’s second gunshot wound was located on the “inner part of the upper right arm.”
2:51 p.m. - A graphic photo of Perez’s second gunshot wound, which KSAT determined it would not air, was shown to the court.
“This bullet goes into the armpit,” Lynch said. “It strikes the two major vessels, which are in the arm. And then it proceeds out through the upper right back. The path of this wound is right-to-left, front-to-back and slightly upward. But this is described with the arm in standard anatomic position. The body diagram that we’ve been looking at is standard anatomic position. It’s not to imply that that is the position the body was in when it was shot.”
2:52 p.m. - According to an image of Perez’s back and the back of her head, Lynch said the second gunshot wound exited her “upper right back.”
2:56 p.m. - Lunan showed a photo at the 2:02 a.m. mark, from an SAPD officer’s body-worn camera on June 23, 2023.
That officer, who was positioned outside Perez’s apartment patio, showed one officer firing a weapon at Perez with Perez standing in her apartment with her right arm raised.
2:57 p.m. - Lunan attempted to make a connection between the photo and one of the bullets that struck Perez.
“Is it possible that this bullet that was fired at this time was the same bullet that struck her (Perez) in the location that you had found in gunshot wound No. 2?” Lunan asked Lynch.
Jason Goss, co-defense attorney for ex-SAPD officer Nathaniel Villalobos, objected to Lunan’s question. However, Rangel denied the objection.
“Yes,” Lynch responded to Lunan. “This arrangement between the firearm and the body is consistent with gunshot wound No. 2.″
2:59 p.m. - Lynch described Perez’s toxicology report.
“The only thing that was detected was ethanol, which is drinking alcohol or what would be found in beer or wine or liquor,” Lynch said. “And the concentration was 0.145.”
In Texas, the legal limit is .08.
“This is more than that level,” Lynch said.
3 p.m. - Lynch said Perez’s cause of death were the two gunshot wounds. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide.
“From a medical examiner perspective, homicide is a medical determination. The death was caused by another individual or individuals,” Lynch said to the court. “It is not a determination — one way or the other — on wrongdoing."
3:11 p.m. - Lunan concluded questions for Lynch, who passed the witness to the defense.
Rangel instituted a short break for jurors, who left the courtroom.
3:35 p.m. - Jurors reentered the courtroom.
Goss began cross-examining Lynch.
4:04 p.m. - Goss highlighted Perez’s two gunshot wounds in relation to the three ex-SAPD officers who are currently on trial.
“What that means is is that one person could have shot her twice or two people could have shot her once, right?” Goss asked Lynch.
“Correct,” Lynch said.
“Right. But you would say that it is impossible that three people shot her once, based on your findings?” Goss asked Lynch.
“Correct,” Lynch said.
“There’s no way that three people shot this person one time in any possibility that you can think of as a medical examiner, based upon the evidence that you saw that she had only been shot twice?” Goss asked Lynch.
“Correct,” Lynch said. “I only identified two gunshot wounds.”
4:18 p.m. - Goss passed the witness to Mario Del Prado, a co-defense attorney for ex-SAPD officer Eleazar Alejandro.
4:41 p.m. - Del Prado passed the witness to Nisbet.
4:44 p.m. - Lynch told Nisbet that Perez’s toxicology report was completed on July 7, 2023, approximately 14 days after the shooting.
4:45 p.m. - Nisbet passed the witness back to Lunan.
4:46 p.m. - Lunan passed the witness back to Goss.
4:47 p.m. - Family members of Perez — including Perez’s daughter Alexis Tovar — returned to the courtroom.
4:50 p.m. - Goss passed the witness back to Del Prado.
4:51 p.m. - Del Prado passed the witness. Other defense attorneys and the prosecution did not have any additional questions for Lynch.
Rangel excused Lynch from the witness stand.
4:53 p.m. - The prosecution called SAPD crime scene investigator Carin Crain to the stand.
4:54 p.m. - Rangel swore Crain, who has worked in that capacity for nearly 18 years, onto the witness stand.
Bexar County prosecutor Daryl Harris began asking Crain questions.
4:55 p.m. - Crain told the court that she was dispatched to SAPD headquarters at “around 2 o’clock” in the morning on June 23, 2023.
She said she was asked to “standby” at headquarters as officers were processed for the police shooting of Perez.
Harris asked the court and the defense to submit three photos into evidence, Sifuentes requested a voir dire with Crain.
4:59 p.m. - Crain said the photos, which belonged to the ex-SAPD officers’ weapons, were taken “when they arrived at headquarters.”
5 p.m. - Sifuentes’ voir dire ended. Harris resumed his questioning of Crain.
Crain said the first weapon she collected belonged to Villalobos.
5:02 p.m. - Harris asked Crain what she did with Villalobos’ weapon upon collection.
“Once it was made safe, it was laid out,” Crain told jurors. “Photos were taken of the firearm. And then a round count was done of how many were in the chamber and then however many were in the magazine.”
According to Crain, Villalobos had three rounds missing from his weapon.
5:07 p.m. - Crain said Flores’ weapon was the next one she checked. Three rounds were missing from his weapon.
5:08 p.m. - Crain said Alejandro’s weapon was the last weapon she inspected.
In all, according to Crain, 10 rounds were missing from Alejandro’s weapon.
5:49 p.m. - Multiple brown envelopes, one of which contains rounds fired from an officer’s weapon, were opened before the court.
Crain emptied one envelope of its rounds before she counted them one-by-one back into the envelope. Crain counted 12 rounds.
5:50 p.m. - Nico LaHood, a co-defense attorney for ex-SAPD officer Nathaniel Villalobos, requested a voir dire with Crain.
“Are those 12 rounds from one of the magazines that was in the gun at the time or a spare magazine?” LaHood asked.
“That’s what was in his gun,” Crain responded.
“And how many were issued to him initially? How many rounds?” LaHood asked Crain.
“18,” Crain said.
“18? Minus three would be how many left over?” LaHood asked.
“Would be 15,” Crain said.
“And you just counted 12?” LaHood asked.
“Yes, and the one that was in the chamber,” Crain said.
“So, that would be 13?” LaHood asked.
“Yes,” Crain said.
“Where are the other two?” LaHood asked.
Crain said she didn’t know.
“This package has been opened by someone other than me,” Crain told the court.
“There are rounds missing, though?” LaHood asked.
“There should be 13 and there should be one more,” Crain said. “Or two more.”
6 p.m. - Harris passed the witness.
6:01 p.m. - Rangel elected to close proceedings for the day. The trial is expected to resume on Thursday morning.
Background
On June 23, 2023, Melissa Perez, 46, experienced a mental health crisis inside her Southwest Side apartment, where SAPD body camera footage showed she was fatally shot by ex-SAPD officers Eleazar Alejandro, Alfred Flores and Nathaniel Villalobos.
The case drew widespread attention and sparked debate over police response protocols.
Alejandro, Flores and Villalobos each face charges in connection with Perez’s death.
All three charged will be tried together, which will make for a packed courtroom.
Former prosecutor-turned-defense attorney Meredith Chacon said the plan to try all three together means each defense team has agreed on some kind of joint strategy.
“It indicates a sharing of resources, and they’re all working together on this defense,” Chacon said.
Each defendant has their own team of lawyers:
- Alfred Flores is represented by Thom Nisbet, Christian Neumann and David Christian.
- Eleazar Alejandro is represented by Ben Sifuentes and Mario Del Prado, a former division chief in the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
- Nathaniel Villalobos is represented by former Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood and his law partners Jay Norton, Jason Goss and Patrick Ballantyne.
As for the state, prosecutors include Felony Criminal Trial Division Chief David Lunan and Daryl Harris.
The trial is being presided over by Judge Ron Rangel of the 379th Criminal District Court.
Ahead of jury selection, a pretrial hearing became heated as attorneys sparred over key issues ahead of the trial. Defense attorneys argued with prosecutors over which evidence and legal arguments should be allowed during the proceedings.
Among the issues discussed was a federal judge’s recent decision to dismiss a civil lawsuit against the officers — a ruling the defense wants jurors to hear about. Prosecutors opposed that motion.
Defense attorneys also objected to any discussion of the Castle Doctrine, or “protection of property” laws, during the trial. They argued it is irrelevant to the facts of the case.
Rangel has yet to rule on those motions.
If convicted, Flores and Alejandro each face up to life in prison. Villalobos, who is facing an aggravated assault by a public servant charge, also faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
For a full look back at this case, watch our KSAT Open Court video below:
More coverage of this trial on KSAT: