A father and son have been arrested in connection to the murder of pregnant teenager Savanah Soto and her boyfriend.
San Antonio Police announced late on Wednesday that Christopher Preciado, 19, had been arrested and charged with capital murder.
His father 53-year old Ramon Preciado was charged with abuse of a corpse for helping his son move the bodies after the brutal killings.
Police Sgt Washington Moscoso said that Ramon Preciado is not accused of taking part in the murders, which are believed to have taken place just before midnight on 21 December.
More charges are possible with respect to Soto’s unborn baby.
On Thursday the force said that a possible motive for the killings was a “narcotics deal gone bad”, according to NBC News. Soto’s family have insisted that she did not use drugs, but may have been influenced by her partner, 22-year-old Matthew Guerra.
Her brother, Jordan Corona, told NBC he was worried about his sister’s relationship with her boyfriend.
“My sister was a little sweetheart. She didn’t even like being near smoke,” he said. “I guess it was just one of those wrong-place, wrong-time situations.
Christopher Preciado, 19, and Ramon Preciado, 53, who were arrested and charged in connection with the murders of Savanah Soto and her boyfriend— (San Antonio Police Department)
“She doesn’t get around that type of stuff [drugs]. Of course her boyfriend was the way he was but as far as her [involvement with drugs], no.”
The arrests of the Preciados come more than one week after 18-year-old Soto and Guerra were found dead inside a car on 26 December.
Both victims died from a gunshot wound to the head. Soto’s unborn baby was also found dead inside the car.
A multi-day search for the couple had been launched when the victims’ families grew alarmed as Soto – who was nine months’ pregnant – failed to turn up for an appointment to have her labour induced on 23 December.
Police then asked for the public’s help in finding “two persons of interest” in the case.
Chilling footage released by police last week captured the couple’s Kia Optima and a dark-coloured pickup truck with a bed cover.
Police said that one person of interest was driving the Kia Optima and the other the pickup truck.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters at the time that none of the victims were visible in the footage, with Sgt Moscoso speculating that a botched drug deal was believed to be a factor in the murders.
He added that a key piece of evidence was recovered from Soto’s cellphone, which pointed authorities to the possible location of the pickup truck, and ultimately to the two suspects’ home.
Following the couple’s disappearance and prior to the arrests, the victims’ family members had offered conflicting theories about what might have happened. Soto’s family said they had not approved of her relationship with Guerra.
Police sent out a CLEAR alert on Monday for Savanah Nicole Soto, 18— (KTRK screengrab)
Guerra was arrested on Christmas Day of 2022 for beating Soto, according to NBC. A doorbell camera captured him kicking Soto in the face after screaming at her, “F*** you b****, you betrayed me,” according to a San Antonio police report shared with NBC.
“[Guerra] then began to punch [Soto] in the face with a closed fist 4 times on the left side of the face,” the report added. Soto told detectives that Guerra later stood over her and kicked her “in the face multiple times,” the police report stated.
“It was an abusive relationship, we didn’t approve of it,” Mr Corona said of his sister and her boyfriend. “We tried to tell her, ‘That’s not what you need.’ Of course at that age, you feel like you know everything. Love is powerful at that age. We couldn’t separate them.”
Guerra was placed on probation after he pleaded no contest to assault causing bodily injury on a domestic partner, court records showed, per NBC.
Following her death, Soto’s sister-in-law also alleged that she was being abused. “i won’t allow you to be one of those statistics of what happens when u have an abusive boyfriend,” she wrote on social media, in a post viewed by The New York Post.
Her mother also posted on Facebook: “I’m worried about her safety she is [with] her boyfriend who is no good.”
But according to the NY Post, Guerra’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 her.”
Gloria Cordova told KHOU her daughter was excited to be a new mother.
“Savanah was so, so happy because she was going to be a mommy. It breaks my heart,” she said.
