An arrest affidavit says a dispute involving a basketball preceded the fatal shooting of 35-year-old Jonathan Alderete in downtown San Antonio.
SAN ANTONIO, TX — A 23-year-old man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Jonathan Alderete at a basketball court in Hemisfair Park, where investigators say an early-morning confrontation may have started over a basketball.
Isean Eugene Hardeman was arrested and charged with murder after investigators used surveillance footage, witness identifications and other evidence to connect him to the shooting, according to an arrest affidavit. Alderete, 35, was found with a gunshot wound shortly before 5 a.m. in the 600 block of Hemisfair Plaza Way and was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center, where he later died.
Police initially described the shooting as the result of a physical confrontation over property. The later arrest affidavit provided more detail, saying Hardeman and three other people arrived at the downtown park on electric scooters and encountered Alderete and members of his group near the Games Plaza. According to the affidavit, the group picked up a basketball that Alderete and his family had left behind and took it to a nearby court.
A confrontation followed between Alderete and Hardeman, investigators said. Surveillance footage collected by park police showed Hardeman pulling out a handgun and shooting Alderete during the fight, according to the affidavit. The allegation is part of the criminal case against Hardeman and has not been proven in court.
Investigators said Hardeman left the area on an electric scooter after the shooting. The scooter was later found behind the Henry B. González Convention Center. Surveillance video from the convention center showed a man whose clothing matched the suspect abandoning the scooter, according to the affidavit.
Police continued tracing the suspect through downtown using video footage. Investigators said the man was recorded moving through several locations before boarding a VIA Metropolitan Transit bus near Interstate 37 and East Houston Street. The affidavit says he later transferred to another bus that took him to the area of Southeast Military Drive and Hanzi Drive, near the apartment complex where Hardeman lived.
Investigators obtained search warrants for Hardeman’s residence and for a DNA sample. After a judge approved the warrants, officers conducting surveillance saw Hardeman leave the apartment and later stopped the vehicle he was traveling in, according to the affidavit. Police said Hardeman had a handgun that matched ballistic evidence recovered during the shooting investigation. Investigators also reported that his shoes were consistent with those seen on the suspected shooter in surveillance footage.
The affidavit says Hardeman’s girlfriend, who was in the vehicle when police stopped him, told investigators that he had admitted being the shooter. She also identified him as the person shown on surveillance footage riding a VIA bus after leaving downtown, investigators said. Two witnesses who were with Alderete during the confrontation separately identified Hardeman in a photo lineup, according to the affidavit.
Alderete’s death prompted a gathering of family members and friends who held a vigil at a basketball court near his home. Relatives remembered him for his love of basketball and said the sport was one way he brought people together. The vigil came as investigators were still working to identify the person responsible for the shooting, before authorities announced Hardeman’s arrest.
Hardeman was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a murder charge. Reporting following his arrest said his bail was set at $250,000. The publicly available reports did not provide information about a plea or a scheduled trial date. The charge remains an allegation, and Hardeman is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Author note: Last updated September 8, 2026.