By Colleen Heild and Katy Barnitz

Jurors deliberating in the murder trial of two officers who shot and killed homeless camper James Boyd were not able to agree on a verdict.

Three jurors believed the former officers were guilty, while nine argued for a not guilty verdict. Judge Alisa Hadfield declared a mistrial Tuesday afternoon in District Court.

Former detective Keith Sandy and former officer Dominique Perez were charged with second-degree murder in Boyd's death.

After the jury read a verdict, more than a dozen protesters gathered outside of the courthouse.

Surrounded by news cameras and reporters, the group took turns speaking into a megaphone, expressing disappointment that Sandy and Perez weren't convicted before a bit of chanting.

"Jail killer cops," they shouted.

By 7 p.m. most of the protesters had left.

A state district court jury deliberated for two days after hearing 12 days of testimony in state district court in Albuquerque.

Sandy, who retired as a detective in the APD repeat offender program after the shooting, had faced an additional aggravated battery charge.

Perez, a nine year APD veteran assigned to the SWAT team, lost his job after criminal charges were filed. He is appealing his termination to a city hearing officer.

It marked the first time in at least 50 years that an Albuquerque police officer was criminally charged for an on-duty shooting.

The case attracted national attention after video footage from Perez's APD helmet camera was released showing Boyd being fatally shot by Sandy and Perez after a two and a half hour standoff in the Sandia foothills.

Boyd, who suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, had a history of assaults on police and corrections officers.

(c)2016 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)