First hearing in new court reset for ex-SAPD officers charged in woman’s death

SAN ANTONIO – The case of three former San Antonio police officers charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a woman inside her apartment had its first hearing reset before it could begin.

The case was initially expected to preside with Judge Stephanie Boyd of the 187th District Court. However, Boyd was recused from the case on Sept. 26 after Judge Sid Harle of the 4th Administrative Judicial Region granted the defense’s motion to recuse her from handling it.

Melissa Perez, 46, was shot and killed by three San Antonio Police Department officers on June 23, 2023. SAPD Sgt. Alfred Flores, Officer Eleazar Alejandro and Officer Nathaniel Villalobos are charged with murder. (KSAT)

The case, moved to Judge Ron Rangel’s 379th Criminal District Court last year, was expected to begin Wednesday morning. A bailiff confirmed the reset to a KSAT crew in the courtroom.

Rangel told KSAT the attorneys were “having issues.” At one point, the three former officers and Perez’s family left the courtroom before the reset occurred.

A new trial date is not yet known.

Melissa Perez was shot and killed inside her Southwest Side apartment in June 2023.

SAPD Chief William McManus, at the time of the incident, said Perez was experiencing a mental health crisis and had a hammer in her hand when officers shot her through a patio window and door.

Alfred Flores and Eleazar Alejandro were charged with murder, while Nathaniel Villalobos was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

There is no word from the District Attorney’s Office yet on who will prosecute the case, as the former chief of the Civil Rights Division, Jeff Mulliner, resigned months after taking the job last year. The position has yet to be filled.