SAPD crime scene investigator testifies photos show Tesla with front‑end damage, blood and a handgun after fatal pedestrian crash

Angela Salvatierra, a civilian crime scene investigator with the San Antonio Police Department, testified that she responded to a March 25, 2023 fatality at the intersection identified in court as Proant and South Alamo Street and documented the scene with hundreds of photographs.

"It was a white Tesla that was involved," Salvatierra said. She described extensive front‑end damage and said the vehicle had come to rest against a northwest exterior brick wall beneath barred windows. Salvatierra told the jury she observed deployed airbags and apparent biological material — "hairs and possible human flesh" — embedded in the passenger‑side windshield.

The investigator authenticated and the court admitted sets of photographs (state exhibits 3–40) that show overall approaches to the vehicle, roadway paint markings placed by traffic investigators and close‑ups of items located near the car. Salvatierra said she took approximately 301 photographs at the scene and provided roughly 37 images for courtroom review.

Salvatierra also described items she collected and logged into evidence under SAPD case number 23064673. Exhibits admitted without objection included a left and right white Croc slide (labeled E1 and E2), a cell phone and case, and a firearm and related items later offered as state exhibits 41–45. She identified the gun as a Glock 43, 9 mm, and an accompanying holster; she said a 16‑round 9 mm magazine found in the console was empty, while a magazine secured in the firearm contained 12 live rounds stamped "Hornady 9 mm Luger 2022." She testified the firearm had been rendered safe (zip‑tied) before being placed in property custody.

Defense counsel probed the scope of Salvatierra's vehicle inspection after raising visual defects in the Tesla's bumper and asking whether any holes were consistent with gunshot damage. Salvatierra testified that, "visually, I would not call it a bullet hole" and that beyond a visual inspection she performed no forensic ballistic testing on the vehicle or those bumper defects.

Salvatierra described standard CSI procedures for photographing, tagging and preserving items: initial institute photographs taken before introducing scales or placards, placement of numbered yellow evidence placards, sketches, then packaging items in paper bags or envelopes to protect evidence integrity before transfer to the property room. She said she collected 15 items of evidence at the scene and logged them with inventory barcodes.

The court published the admitted exhibits for the record and the investigator confirmed chain‑of‑custody details she recorded on her photo board (date 03/25/2023, time approximately 4:45 a.m., badge number and camera identifiers). The witness was excused after cross‑examination.

The testimony and admitted evidence reflect investigative steps and items recovered; Salvatierra repeatedly emphasized that her role was documentation and collection, not later laboratory analysis. "Other than a visual inspection, we did none," she said when asked whether she had conducted ballistic testing on suspected defects.

The trial continued after a brief recess, with the court reminding jurors not to discuss or research the case outside the courtroom and scheduling the next session.