SAN MARCOS, Texas — Loved ones of a man killed by a San Marcos police officer want to clear his name after a grand jury cleared the officer of wrongdoing.
Police Chief Stan Standridge said 22-year-old Malachi Williams was shot and killed by Officer Alcides "Alex" Ventura following an exchange outside of a convenience store in April.
Bodycam footage of the incident was released Friday after Ventura was cleared, which is part of the police department's policy. However, the family disputes how Standridge handled the situation.
"[Standridge] makes promises and takes them away," Wayne Miller, Williams' grandfather, said Friday. "You are a liar."
Miller claims business owners, authorities and others were told not to speak to him about the shooting. He also said the grand jury was wrong in its decision to clear Ventura and that the released footage doesn't tell the whole story.
"If what they did was correct, why the silence? Why not let me see the video much sooner? Why did you not show the rest of the video in the parking lot?" Miller asked. "I believe that you would have seen police abuse of a person that they had shot."
What does the bodycam show?
Footage released Friday begins inside the convenience store, showing Ventura confronting Williams before asking him to put his hands behind his back.
"I thought we were cool, bro," Williams tells Ventura before the two step outside. Standridge said despite the exchange, the two have no history together.
Once outside, two other officers approach. Williams is asked two more times to put his hands behind his back before he runs away.
During the chase, Ventura appears to fire his Taser twice but both times were "ineffective." As Williams enters the H-E-B parking lot, Ventura pulls out his gun and fires three shots. Standridge said two of them hit Williams in the rear abdomen, and that the third shot appeared to hit the pavement before bouncing and hitting a vehicle.
Williams continues to run before eventually collapsing in the parking lot. Ventura calls for EMS before the bodycam footage cuts off. The video does not appear to show Williams holding a knife at any point, but Standridge attributed that to the chase and lighting at the time of the incident.
However, Standridge showcased stills from the bodycam, along with footage from the H-E-B parking lot, that appears to show the reflection of a knife in each of Williams' hands. Two 8-inch knives were recovered from the parking lot about 20 feet from where Williams fell.
When asked why the video cuts off, Standridge said it was out of "sensitivity to the family" and that "citizens don't need to see aid, transport and death."
Miller said he's not sure what to do now that the videos have been released.
"It may come to suing," Miller said. "[But] they could lay millions in one pile and Malachi on the other side – take those millions or be hugged by your grandson. Those millions would be left there. I want justice. I want what's right."