Three years after he was fired by the San Antonio Police Department for his role in the fatal 2023 shooting of Melissa Perez, former officer Eleazar Alejandro has a new law enforcement job: as a deputy for the Kendall County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office announced the swearing-in of Alejandro and another new deputy in a social media post on Thursday.

“These two deputies have made the commitment to serve and protect the citizens of Kendall County, and we are excited to have them join our team,” the sheriff’s office said. “We know they will bring dedication, professionalism, and a strong commitment to our community.”

In November, Alejandro and former SAPD Sgt. Alfred Flores were acquitted of murder and other charges in the death of Perez, 46, a mother of four who was having a mental health crisis when police confronted her at her Southwest Side apartment. It was the first time San Antonio police officers had ever been tried on murder charges stemming from an on-duty shooting.

At the same trial, a third former officer, Nathaniel Villalobos, was found not guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Perez suffered from schizophrenia, family members said. Police were sent to the apartment complex where she lived early on the morning of June 23, 2023, after she was seen cutting the wires to the fire alarm system. She said the FBI was using it to eavesdrop on her.

At first, she cooperated with officers, but when they asked her to walk to their patrol car with them, she ran into her apartment and locked the front door. The officers tried to speak with her through an open window. Perez threw a glass candlestick at Villalobos, hitting him in the arm, body camera footage shows.

The officers later tried to communicate with her through a rear patio door, ordering her to come outside. She refused, and as they made their way closer, Perez twice rushed at them with a hammer. Alejandro, Flores and Villalobos all opened fired on her. The rounds fired by Villalobos missed, which is why he faced lesser charges.

Then-Police Chief William McManus sacked the officers within 24 hours, saying they violated SAPD policy and training. He said they should have requested assistance from the department’s Mental Health Unit or simply backed off and returned the next day. The filing of murder charges sent a “shock wave” through the department – “like a 10 on the Richter scale,” McManus said at the time.

At trial, prosecutors argued that Perez did not pose a risk to the officers because she was on the other side of a locked glass door when she ran at them.

Defense attorneys contended that Alejandro and his fellow officers were charged after a hasty, superficial investigation. They said the three were unaware of Perez’s mental illness and acted in self-defense when they shot her.

 A 3D model of the encounter, built by a defense expert, suggested that Perez was much closer to the officers than investigators knew when they brought the charges. A retired SAPD sergeant testified that she believed “political pressure” contributed to the decision to prosecute the three.

After a month-long trial, a Bexar County jury deliberated for 90 minutes before finding Alejandro, Flores and Villalobos not guilty of all charges.