Three of the chief’s former officers were acquitted of murder and other charges this week, capping a four-week trial centered around Melissa Perez’s 2023 killing.
SAN ANTONIO — The head of San Antonio’s police department has issued a statement in the aftermath of the Melissa Perez trial that saw all three former SAPD officers acquitted, saying that the shooting investigation was “not influenced by political pressure or external pressure of any kind.”
Chief William McManus appeared to be directly addressing testimony given by retired SAPD Sgt. Lisa Miller. An expert witness called by the defense in the latter days of the trial, Miller testified she spent hundreds of hours reviewing the case of three then-officers – Alfred Flores, Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos – arrested just hours after they shot and killed Perez at her apartment on June 23, 2023.
The officers were responding to a call for an officer in trouble after police initially arrived to the complex when Perez tampered with the fire alarm system.
Miller testified that lead investigator Detective Ronald Soto jumped to conclusions when he secured arrest warrants for the three officers just 16 hours after the June 2023 shooting. She further testified that a sergeant in SAPD’s training division told her he was in a meeting with McManus hours after the shooting in which that sergeant said he believed officers were justified.
She said the sergeant told her he was instructed to stay quiet or face consequences.
“Given (the) political atmosphere after the George Floyd situation and riots, several of us reached the conclusion there was some political pressure from the chief’s office to arrest these officers,” Miller testified.
That allegation contradicted Soto’s earlier testimony, in which he insisted he was under no pressure from police leadership or the district attorney’s office when he wrote the warrants.
But Miller also called the investigation biased, a point that the defense attorneys continued to argue during the trial. The defense, aided by body camera footage, also pointed to Perez’s body posture and proximity to the officers to argue Flores was vulnerable as the confrontation escalated.
The trio was found not guilty on all charges Monday, capping the four-week trial. It’s the first time law enforcement in Bexar County were charged with murder for an on-duty shooting, according to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office.
Reflecting on the case, Villalobos told KENS 5 he felt “as if Chief McManus has failed us.”
“I think there’s a lot of things he can do,” the former officer continued. “I don’t think it’s just him alone, but being that representation of this institution, I think he needs to hold accountability.”
McManus said on the day the officers were arrested in 2023 that their use of force “was not reasonable.”
Nearly two and a half years later, McManus acknowledged in his statement the “strong emotions within the department and the community” that the case has stirred.
“My decisions in this case were based on the specific circumstances involved,” the police chief went on to say. “I consistently support officers when their use of force is within policy and the law, and I review these situations regularly. The steps taken in this case were not influenced by political pressure or external pressure of any kind. I will continue to work with SAPOA, as I have over the years, to address our differences in a way that supports both our officers and the community we serve.”
As for what comes next, Flores said he needs time to feel “human again,” while Villalobos said he hopes to eventually return to the department.
“I love San Antonio. I’m born and raised here,” Villalobos said. “I would love nothing more than to serve my community again. So yes, I would like to get my job back. But we’ll see where time takes us.”