Zachary Aaron Williamson

Zachary Aaron Williamson, a 41-year-old White man, was shot and killed in San Antonio, Texas, on April 6, 2023. The shooting happened just after 2:30 a.m. inside an apartment at the Preserve at Westover Hills complex on the city’s Northwest Side. The apartment belonged to his 23-year-old ex-girlfriend, Israel Reyes, with whom he shared an eight-month-old child.

Reyes herself called 911 to report the shooting. She told the dispatcher she had shot Williamson in self-defense and that he was not supposed to be at her home because of a protective order she had against him. When police arrived, they found Williamson deceased in the dining room from a single gunshot wound to his head. Reyes told detectives that Williamson, whom she described as homeless, had come over to her apartment, taken a bath, and had dinner with her. She said she later fell asleep on a mattress with their baby and awoke to Williamson yelling at her about text messages she had sent to a former classmate. She claimed he had “crazy eyes,” pushed her multiple times, and refused to leave, prompting her to grab a gun and fire.

However, the police investigation uncovered evidence that contradicted Reyes’s account. An autopsy revealed that in addition to the fatal gunshot, Williamson had suffered numerous other injuries, including 16 cuts and puncture wounds to the top of his head. A medical examiner concluded these injuries were inflicted in the weeks leading up to his death and were possibly made with the grip or magazine of a handgun. Investigators also spoke with witnesses, including Reyes’s sister, who told them not to trust her account. Other witnesses alleged that Reyes had a history of assaulting Williamson, claiming she had recently hit him with a lead pipe and stabbed him with a knife and scissors.

While Reyes did have a protective order against Williamson related to his February 2023 arrest for unlawful restraint and making a terroristic threat, investigators believed the evidence did not support a claim of self-defense. They concluded she was not in fear for her life at the time of the shooting.

On April 19, 2023, San Antonio police arrested Israel Reyes and charged her with murder. She was booked into the Bexar County Jail with her bond set at $175,000. The case proceeded to a jury trial.

In May 2025, a Bexar County jury found Israel Reyes not guilty of murder. Following the acquittal, the death of Zachary Williamson remains officially unsolved, as no one has been held legally responsible.