A major breakthrough has been made in the murders of a heavily pregnant Texas teenager and her boyfriend; Their heartbroken loved ones are waiting for more answers.
The bodies of 18-year-old Savanah Soto and 23-year-old Matthew Guerra were found shot to death inside a Kia Optima in San Antonio on December 26. Their unborn baby also died in the car.
A search was launched for the couple, whose families panicked when Soto did not show up for an appointment to induce labor on December 23.
After the murders were revealed, police released chilling images showing the couple’s Kia Optima and a dark-coloured pickup truck with a bed cover. Police said one of the suspects was driving a Kia Optima and the other was driving a pickup truck.
A week later, San Antonio police arrested and charged two men in connection with the deaths.
There are still many questions about the circumstances that led to the couple’s disappearance and death. This is what we know so far.
When did the couple disappear?
Soto was last seen on December 22 at the Valencia Lofts apartment complex in Leon Valley, Bexar County, Texas. According to family members, the teenager lived there with Guerra, the father of her child.
She was described by police as a pregnant woman who was 6 feet tall, with brown hair and brown eyes.
His family became worried when he did not show up for his hospital appointment in the following days. The family told the local station that it had been a week since her birth and she was scheduled to go into labor. KENS-TV.
Her mother, Gloria Cordova, said that she last heard from her daughter on Friday afternoon, and that she did not receive an answer when she knocked on the apartment door on the afternoon of December 23.
Ms. Cordova added that she had not been able to contact Guerra since her daughter’s disappearance.
Leon Valley police issued an OPEN Alert for Savanah on Dec. 25 and later said her boyfriend was also missing. Savanah’s family organized a search of the area near her apartment on Christmas night.
“Savanah was very, very happy because she was going to be a mother. “This breaks my heart,” her mother said. KENS-TV.
Where were they found?
The couple was found dead in a parked car in San Antonio, Texas, on December 26.
Someone saw the car in the parking lot of an apartment complex in San Antonio and alerted the family. KENS-TV reported. Relatives then called the police.
Two bodies were found in the Kia Optima. The bodies may have been there for three or four days, Police Chief William McManus said at the news conference.
Who are the suspects?
Police arrested two people in connection with the deaths on January 3.
Christopher Preciado, 19, was arrested and charged with capital murder, while his father, Ramon Preciado, 53, was charged with abuse of a corpse for helping his son move the bodies, police said.
Police Sergeant Washington Moscoso added that Ramon did not participate in the murders.
He said more charges related to the unborn baby are possible.
The suspects were tracked down after key evidence was found on Soto’s cell phone, which led authorities to the possible location of the pickup truck and eventually to the home of the two suspects.
What was the reason?
Although the exact motive for the murders has not yet been determined, Sergeant Moscoso has previously said a botched drug deal was apparently involved.
At a press conference on December 28, police released a video capturing two suspects wanted in connection with the murders.
The video shows a dark-colored pickup truck with a bed covering pulling into a parking lot in San Antonio.
The couple’s Kia Optima is seen driving side by side with the truck.
Police said one of the suspects was driving a Kia Optima and the other was driving a pickup truck.
One of the individuals involved is seen exiting the pickup truck, approaching the driver’s side of the victims’ car and appearing to speak to the person inside.
Later, the second person of interest is seen coming out of the driver’s side of the Kia Optima.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters that none of the victims were visible in the footage.
The police chief would not confirm whether the video is believed to have been taken before or after the murders occurred.
It is not yet known whether the suspects were previously known to the victims.
Family members of the couple also offered conflicting theories about what might have happened.
Soto’s sister-in-law claimed that she was abused. “I will not let you be one of the statistics of what happens when you have an abusive boyfriend,” she wrote in a post viewed on social media. New York Post.
His mother also posted on Facebook: “I fear for his safety. [with] bad boyfriend.
But according to NY PostGuerra’s mother wrote on social media: “If anyone knows my son Matthew Guerra, he and his pregnant girlfriend are missing. “I know my son and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.”
A grieving family
This isn’t the first tragedy to affect the Soto family.
In 2022, Savanah Soto’s 15-year-old brother, Ethan Soto, was shot and killed. “It’s hard, it’s like one thing after another,” Gloria Cordova said KENS.
“It still hurts because what I tell my children is not complete, I’m not complete, and I don’t have a daughter anymore,” she said.
The man accused of killing Ethan in October was beaten in the courtroom. According to this daily mailAllegedly, in the footage, members of the Soto family can be seen running towards him as he takes the podium.
The footage shows several people jumping over a partition and punching the man who allegedly made a gesture to the group.
After Soto and her boyfriend were found dead, her sister-in-law Mariana Delgado wrote on Facebook: “It’s supposed to be the best time of the year, but it’s not the WORST.
“We’re trying our best to give my daughter a good Christmas, but it’s so hard to want to be happy, so instead we’re left heartbroken. Savanah and baby Fabian are supposed to be celebrating with us, it’s not fair.”
Ms. Delgado later requested in a separate post that the family be allowed to mourn.