Shanta Major is taking San Marcos officials to federal court, accusing them of protecting a police officer who shot and killed her 22-year-old son, Malachi Williams, outside a local H‑E‑B last year.
Major filed a federal wrongful-death and civil-rights lawsuit on Wednesday, arguing her son’s constitutional rights were violated when San Marcos Police Officer Alcides "Alex" Ventura opened fire. The complaint names the city of San Marcos, Police Chief Stan Standridge, Officer Ventura and Texas Ranger Jose L. Rodriguez and accuses officials of mishandling evidence and closing ranks around the officer who fired the fatal shots, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges a Texas Rangers probe was a "sham investigation," claims store managers sometimes allowed Williams to sleep on Snax Max property and accuses officers of destroying his previous sleeping spot and cellphone, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
Police Account And Released Video
San Marcos police say Officer Ventura chased Williams after a roughly quarter-mile pursuit from the Snax Max convenience store, tried to deploy a Taser twice and then fired three shots that struck Williams twice in the rear torso. The department later released portions of body-worn camera and surveillance footage showing their interaction, the chase into the H‑E‑B parking area and the knives recovered nearby, according to the San Marcos Record.
Family Disputes Official Story
Major’s suit tells a very different story. It says Williams was not a threat, emphasizes that he was shot twice in the back and flatly accuses Texas Ranger Rodriguez of conducting a "sham investigation" to shield Ventura, according to the complaint. Local officials and the Hays County district attorney have defended the officer, and a grand jury declined to indict Ventura last August, the Express-News noted.
Legal Stakes In Federal Court
The complaint brings federal civil-rights and wrongful-death claims under the statute commonly used to challenge alleged constitutional violations by state and local officials. That law, 42 U.S.C. § 1983, provides the vehicle for those claims under federal code. Coverage of the earlier grand-jury decision and video release has underscored that criminal and civil cases run on different tracks: a grand jury’s decision not to indict does not automatically block a separate federal civil suit, as previously reported when the officer was cleared by a grand jury.
What Comes Next
Major’s filing moves the family’s fight into federal court, where the city and officers can answer the complaint, seek dismissal, or head into discovery - a phase that can stretch on for months. Family members and local advocates, who have already held vigils and pushed city leaders for more transparency, say the lawsuit is their next avenue to force public answers and documentation about the shooting and the investigation that followed, as earlier reporting by Fox 7 Austin has documented.
