A Texas father and his 19-year-old son have been charged in the deaths of a pregnant 18-year-old and her 22-year-old boyfriend.
Savanah Soto was nine months pregnant and just a day away from having labor induced at the hospital when her family reported her missing on December 22.
Savanah wasn’t answering her cell phone, her family said, and she wasn’t in any of the local hospitals they searched. Her boyfriend, Matthew Guerra, couldn’t be reached by his family, either, according to News 4 San Antonio.
On Christmas Day, the Texas Department of Public Safety issued a CLEAR Alert for the mother-to-be, which included a description of Guerra’s 2013 gray Kia Optima. A car believed to match that description was spotted by a resident of the Colinas at Medical Apartments, who contacted Savanah’s family.
“Savannah was found dead in the front seat and Matthew in the backseat of the vehicle,” News 4 reports. “Investigators believe that Matthew was dragged into the car, according to the police report.”
Both were shot in the head, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner.
As investigators waited for a search warrant for the vehicle, they learned from family members that Guerra used his cell phone and Instagram to sell narcotics.
The police report noted that “it was also advised that the boyfriend would post money and narcotics on Instagram. It was stated that people wanted to rob (Matthew) and it was stated that (he) had been shot at before.”
Just before midnight on Dec. 21, surveillance video caught a Chevy Silverado pulling up next to Guerra’s Optima in the parking lot of the apartment complex.
A heavy-set man exits the Silverado, approaches Guerra’s vehicle, and speaks to the driver before retrieving a towel and wiping down the Optima’s driver-side door. The Silverado drives off a few minutes later.
(Video: YouTube)
“Police believe the two victims were already dead at the time of the surveillance footage,” News 4 reports.
Baby Fabian, so close to being born, also died in the shootings.
Nineteen-year-old Christopher Preciado and his 53-year-old father, Ramon Preciado, were arrested for the murders.
The teen was charged with capital murder, abuse of a corpse, and altering or destroying a human corpse, according to News 4. Ramon Preciado “had a charge of alter or destroy a human corpse added on after initially facing an abuse of a corpse charge for helping his son move the bodies,” the outlet reports.
According to the arrest affidavit, Christopher confessed to police that he was meeting Soto and Guerra for a marijuana deal, according to KENS 5. He told officers that it was Guerra who pulled a gun on him, prompting the shootings. Police, however, say his story doesn’t line up with the victims’ gunshot wounds.
Both Savanah and Matthew were shot behind the ear, Matthew’s family said.
“It is still unclear where the shootings happened,” KENS 5 reports.
“My nephew Fabian his mom and his dad, they’re all gone over marijuana?” Savanah’s brother, Jordan Corona, told the outlet.
(Video: YouTube)
“Nothing is going to bring my sister back,” he said. “Nothing is going to fix the heartaches that we’re having to go through.”
Matthew’s father, Gabriel Guerra, was able to visit Matthew’s apartment on Thursday.
“I came across Fabian’s gloves and it brought back talks me and Matt had about the different sports he was going to be in, so, you know, this one hurts,” he said. “I wish I could have seen him in the father stage of his life.”
Compounding the tragedy for the Soto family is the fact that, in May of 2022, Savanah’s other brother, 15-year-old Ethan Soto, was also murdered.
Corona said going through this kind of pain again is almost unbearable.
“The thing I tell myself is that my little brother, he needed them more and she needed my little brother more,” he said. “That’s all she’d talk about how she wanted Ethan to witness her be a mom.”
“Both Corona and Gabriel Guerra said they want District Attorney Joe Gonzales to seek the death penalty,” KENS 5 states.
“To me there is no other option that would be considered justice, if we didn’t go for death penalty,” Gabriel said.
“The District Attorney released a statement Thursday, stating it is too soon to determine if his office will seek the death penalty for Christopher Preciado,” according to KENS 5. “He did say, it is possible Christopher could face an additional charge of capital murder for the death of baby Fabian.”
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Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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