The verdict capped a monthlong trial in which defense witnesses testified that the investigation into the shooting was rushed and biased.
SAN ANTONIO — Three former San Antonio police officers were found not guilty on all counts following a monthlong trial over Melissa Perez’s 2023 death.
The jury took less than two hours to deliberate before delivering their verdict and acquitting the trio.
Alfred Flores, Eleazar Alejandro, and Nathaniel Villalobos were facing murder and other charges after an investigation into the police shooting that happened during a mental health call. Perez was 46 years old at the time.
This story will be updated.
ORIGINAL STORY BELOW
After nearly a month of testimony, the trial of three former San Antonio police officers charged in the 2023 shooting death of Melissa Perez is nearing its conclusion.
On Friday, the defense rested its case without calling any of the defendants — Alfred Flores, Eleazar Alejandro or Nathaniel Villalobos — to the stand. The jury has now heard four weeks of testimony from a litany witnesses, including law enforcement officers, investigators and personnel who responded to the scene the morning of June 23, 2023.
Flores and Alejandro are charged with murder, while Villalobos faces a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for firing at Perez during the encounter.
The fatal shooting happened after officers responded to a mental health call at Perez’s south-side apartment. Investigators say Perez, 46, had triggered her complex’s fire alarm system and later came toward officers with a hammer.
Within 24 hours of the shooting, all three officers were suspended and booked into jail after Police Chief William McManus said their actions violated department protocols.
Throughout the trial, jurors have heard conflicting accounts about the deadly confrontation and ensuing investigation, which a former sergeant called biased.
Prosecutors argued the officers entered Perez’s apartment illegally and used excessive force, saying their warrantless entry amounted to burglary of a habitation. That frustrated one officer who was on the stand for days before he pleaded the fifth, having said he was upset with the theory the state was formulating in the trial’s early days.
Defense attorneys countered that Perez had committed a felony earlier that morning — throwing a candle at an officer — which allowed police to make an arrest without a warrant.
This week’s testimony included defense witness retired Sgt. Lisa Miller, a 30-year SAPD veteran, who said she spent hundreds of hours reviewing the case. Miller testified that she believed the lead investigator, Detective Ronald Soto, rushed to judgment by securing arrest warrants just 16 hours after the shooting. She also told jurors that another sergeant believed the officers’ actions were justified but was allegedly told by Chief McManus to “stay quiet or face consequences”—a claim that contradicts Soto’s earlier testimony denying any outside pressure.
Officer Travis Thompson, who responded to the scene that night, testified earlier that he and Villalobos were answering a call for an officer in trouble and that one of the officers had been hit by glass. Jurors were shown body camera video of the chaotic moments before the shooting.
The case is believed to mark the first time Bexar County law enforcement officers have faced murder charges stemming from an on-duty shooting.