SAN ANTONIO – A grieving family is left with only memories after a 31-year-old man was shot and killed at an apartment complex in the Medical Center.
“Just trying to live without him and remember him as he was. I want to hug him and hold him. He’s still a baby to us,” said Betty Perez, stepmother of Nick Hallam, the shooting victim.
San Antonio police found Hallam fatally wounded Sunday morning in an apartment unit in the 4100 block of Medical Drive.
Police arrested the suspected shooter, Jose Alvarez, 50, and Hallam’s wife, Maryann Demetro, 30.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Demetro initially lied to police about being held hostage after Alvarez shot Hallam, just before 6 a.m. Sunday.
Demetro told police that Alvarez took her phone after killing her husband and forced her to stay at the apartment, where she was eventually able to run away. Demetro called police from her residence around 9 a.m. to report the shooting, and Alvarez was arrested shortly after.
A neighbor’s Ring camera footage showed Demetro and Alvarez carrying the victim’s body outside, but it was too heavy to move, so they carried the body back inside the apartment. The footage then showed Demetro cleaning up blood by herself outside the apartment “clearly not in a state of duress which contradicts her previous statements about being held hostage,” according to the affidavit.
“He was murdered. (Demetro) tampered with the body of a corpse, trying to hide the evidence. After he died, she tried to clean the blood off the floor,” Perez said.
After being questioned by police, Alvarez admitted that he and Demetro had been in a relationship for several months.
Demetro told police that Alvarez admitted that he shot and killed the victim because he loved her and wanted to be with her.
Alvarez was arrested around 9 a.m. Sunday at the apartment complex. He is charged with altering/destroying/concealing a human corpse and murder.
Bexar County Jail records show he is being held on a bond total of $245,000.
Demetro was arrested at San Antonio International Airport on Monday evening while attempting to flee the city, police said. She is charged with altering/destroying/concealing a human corpse.
Bexar County Jail records show she is being held on a $45,000 bond.
Now, Hallam’s family is focusing on remembering the good times with their son.
“When I took him for Halloween, and he dressed up like a sailor, I’m sorry because I can’t keep my tears away,” Perez said.
Perez and family members are taking care of the three young children Hallam and Demetro shared while trying to raising funds to transport Hallam to California for memorial services.
“Where he belongs and to try and put him to peace. The rest is just love his children as we love him,” Perez said.