Three former SAPD officers stand trial for the shooting death of Melissa Perez during a 2023 mental health call.
SAN ANTONIO — Testimony continues Wednesday in the trial of three former SAPD officers accused of shooting and killed 46-year-old Melissa Perez during a 2023 mental health call.
Jurors on Tuesday saw graphic photos and physical evidence from the scene of the police shooting.
Crime scene investigator Yvonne Diaz with the San Antonio Police Department spent much of the afternoon on the witness stand, describing what she saw and the evidence she collected after the deadly encounter early in the morning of June 23, 2023. Prosecutors used her testimony to show how bullets riddled Perez’s south-side apartment.
Several of the photos shown in court depicted Perez’s injuries to her chest and back. Her family was not present in the courtroom during that portion of testimony, and the defendants — Alfred Flores, Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos — remained composed as the images were displayed.
The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office has charged all three former officers with murder. Each has pleaded not guilty.
Background on the case
It was early in the morning of June 23, 2023, when authorities say Perez tampered with her complex’s fire alarm system, triggering a police response.
Later that morning, Flores, Alejandro and Villalobos fatally shot at Perez when authorities said she came at them with a hammer. Before 24 hours had passed, they were suspended from the force and jailed after Chief William McManus said their actions didn’t conform with protocols.
At the center of the trial is whether or not the defendants’ use of deadly force was warranted, which jurors must determine. Flores and Alejandro are charged with murder, while Villalobos is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with Perez’s death. The three are being tried together.
It was during questioning of a San Antonio police officer who responded to the scene, Officer Jonathan Salinas, that the defense called for a mistrial on Friday.
Salinas on Thursday said he was upset with a theory the state was formulating over the early days of the trial—that the officers who entered Perez’s apartment were committing burglary of a habitat. The defense team said that could incriminate Salinas and the other officers expected to testify over the course of the weekslong trial, which the district attorney’s office says is likely the first time a Bexar County law enforcement officer is on trial for murder.
Salinas was then given a public defender who announced the officer wanted to plead the Fifth, giving him the flexibility not to testify further.
Ultimately, the state decided to grant immunity to the officers testifying—aside from Salinas and Officer Jesus Ramos, who was questioned for four days this week.