The trial for three former San Antonio police officers charged in the 2023 shooting death of Melissa Perez continued Monday with the defense questioning the state’s theory that the officers acted without justification.

Perez was killed on June 23, 2023, after police officers were called to her Southwest Side apartment for what SAPD Chief William McManus previously described as a mental health crisis.

According to police, Perez had cut fire alarm wires at her apartment complex, which caused San Antonio firefighters to first respond to the scene.

When officers arrived to question her, she ran inside her unit and later swung a hammer toward them as they tried to enter through her patio window.

Former SAPD officers Alfred Flores, Eleazar Alejandro and Nathaniel Villalobos then fired their

See Full Page