A grand jury on Thursday indicted three officers involved in the fatal shooting of 46-year-old Melissa Ann Perez, who had been experiencing a mental health episode when she was killed in June.
Alfred Flores, who worked for the San Antonio Police Department for 14 years, and Eleazar Alejandro, who served for five years, each face a charge of first-degree murder. Nathaniel Villalobos, who had been with SAPD for two years, is facing a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales announced the multiple-count indictments Thursday.
For count one, Flores and Alejandro are alleged to have “intentionally and knowingly” caused Perez’s death on June 23 by shooting at her with a deadly weapon, punishable by between five and 99 years in prison, he said, if they are convicted.
Count two of the indictment alleges aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by a public servant, alleging Flores and Alejandro “used and exhibited a deadly weapon,” recklessly causing serious bodily injury by shooting Perez with the weapon, a first-degree offense that ranges in punishment from five to 99 years, if convicted.
In count three, Flores and Alejandro are alleged to have used and exhibited a deadly weapon, intentionally and knowingly threatened imminent bodily injury to Perez by shooting her. Count four alleges a manslaughter charge for Flores and Alejandro.
The last count alleges a deadly conduct charge for Flores and Alejandro, a third-degree offense ranging in two to 10 years in punishment and a $10,000 fine, Gonzales said.
Villalobos also faces charges of deadly conduct and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“Mental health is a serious issue in our community,” Gonzales said. “We ought to be able to recognize it as soon as possible. When someone suffers from mental health, it requires us to step back, especially those who have to make split decisions that could end in someone’s death.”
Perez’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of San Antonio and the three officers involved in the shooting a month after her death.
Perez was killed at her home at Rosemont at Miller’s Pond apartments after police responded to a report that she was cutting wires to the apartment complex’s fire alarm system.
After the indictments were announced, attorneys representing Perez’s family released a statement.
“At least three of the officers on the scene had interacted with Ms. Perez previously, and they knew that she was schizophrenic,” read the statement from Packard Law Firm. “When the Fire Department first arrived, Ms. Perez told them that she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. So, the officers at the scene knew that Ms. Perez’s behavior in cutting the wires to the fire alarm system was caused by her mental illness, but they treated her like she was a dangerous criminal.”
A toxicology report showed Perez did not have any illegal drugs in her system when she died, according to Packard Law Firm.
In the video of the incident, which was released by SAPD, Perez gave officers her name and apartment number and “appeared to be having a mental health episode,” SAPD Police Chief William McManus said after the deadly shooting.
The officers placed themselves in a situation where they “used deadly force, which was not reasonable given all the circumstances as we now understand them,” McManus said in June.
After Perez fled into her first-floor apartment and locked the door, police body camera video shows three officers at the window and back door. McManus said they ordered Perez out of the apartment, but she refused.
At the time, officers said they saw Flores holding a hammer.
“There’s an allegation that [Perez] had a hammer. The question is whether or not [she] was using that hammer in a threatening manner that required the officers to use deadly force,” Gonzales said at Thursday’s press conference. “We believe that these cases call for us to proceed forward and be ready to prosecute these individuals for what happened here: committing the crime of murder.”
In the narrated video SAPD released, SAPD said Perez then threw a candle at an officer, causing a minor injury. Officers had been communicating with Perez through a window on the patio for over 30 minutes before Perez hit a window with the hammer, shattering it. Then, an officer draws his gun and shoots, and the other officers also fire their weapons, killing her.
Perez was the mother of four children and had two grandchildren. She worked as a custodian but had struggled to hold a job because of her mental health, her daughter told the San Antonio Express-News.
SAPD quickly fired the officers after Perez’s death.
It is not clear when the case will go to trial, but Gonzales estimated they wouldn’t take place until mid- to late 2024.
Deputy City Manager María Villagómez condemned the actions of the officers involved in the incident, saying they “were not consistent with SAPD policies and training, including policies relating to an escalated mental health crisis call.”
“It’s my hope we could focus on better training for our law enforcement community, and focus on better training for members of the judicial system to recognize mental health as an issue to prevent this tragedy from happening in the future,” Gonzales said.
