New details of the investigation into the murders of pregnant teenager Savanah Soto and her boyfriend revealed that the pair may have been shot during a drug deal.
Christopher Preciado, 19, was arrested on Wednesday in Bexar County, Texas, on the charges of capital murder in the deaths of Soto, 18, and her boyfriend Matthew Guerra, 22.
The suspected killer’s father, Ramon Preciado, 53, was also arrested for abuse of a corpse for allegedly helping his son move the bodies.
It is now believed that Soto and Guerra were killed on 21 December, and then the father and son worked together to conceal the bodies in Guerra’s vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT.
Soto, who was heavily pregnant with a boy to be named Fabian, was reported missing along with Guerra on 23 December.
Soto’s family told police she was supposed to be getting induced for the birth of her child the following day.
The couple were ultimately found dead on 26 December.
Christopher Preciado, 19, and Ramon Preciado, 53, were arrested and charged in connection with the murders of Savanah Soto and her boyfriend— (San Antonio Police Department)
The mystery that led to the deaths of the couple is slowly being unravelled, with a possible connection to a “narcotics-related deal that went bad," as described by Police Sgt Washington Moscoso, according to NBC News.
Once taken in for questioning, Christopher Preciado told authorities that “Matthew Guerra and Savanah Soto drove to his residence on Charlie Chan Dirve to sell him marijuana.”
Guerra’s alleged involvement with drugs was known to authorities, as the families of the victims also told police that he sold narcotics over the phone and using social media, the affidavit said.
They also advised them that “people wanted to rob the boyfriend [Guerra], and it was stated that the boyfriend had been shot at before”.
However, investigators believe Christopher’s tale of events was inconsistent with the gunshot wounds both Guerra and Soto suffered.
According to the investigators, on 26 December, authorities found Guerra’s Kia Optima after a resident on Danny Kaye Drive reported it.
Missing pregnant teen Savanah Soto and her boyfriend Matthew Guerra were found dead on Tuesday, 26 December, 2023, a family member said— (Leon Valley Police Department)
As the police approached, they allegedly found Soto and Guerra dead in the car, the pregnant teen sitting in the front right passenger seat with trauma to her head and Guerra in the back seat with a gunshot wound to his head, the affidavit from the outlet said.
It is alleged that Guerra was “dragged” inside of the vehicle.
Christopher told police the male victim – Guerra – pointed a gun at him, and he accidentally shot Soto while “manipulating” the weapon away.
He claimed the same thing then happened again, where he manipulated the weapon being pointed at him, resulting in the Guerra being shot, the affidavit said.
The authorities were not so convinced by this, according to the affidavit, as the gunshot wounds sustained by the victims were not consistent with Christopher’s story.
The affidavit said that Christopher “intentionally discharged a firearm” at the victims with “the intention of causing the death” of the couple and the unborn child.
The motive for the shooting has not been determined.
The court documents also describe disturbing surveillance footage, released by police last week, that caught two men, thought to be Ramon and reportedly Christopher Preciado, on Danny Kaye Drive allegedly working to hide the vehicle with the two dead bodies inside.
Ramon later allegedly admitted to police that he drove his Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck to meet his son, who was driving the car with the deceased victims inside, and then leaving the car there in an attempt to hide it.
In the footage, a man alleged to be Ramon can be seen getting out a towel from his car and appearing to wipe down the outside of the victim’s vehicle door when he had touched it, the affidavit said.
Ramon admitted to helping his son; the affidavit described him as treating the corpses “in an offensive manner by leaving them in the abandoned vehicle”. He is not accused of taking part in the murders.
Police found Christopher’s residence by looking at the data on the victim’s cell phones, on which they searched for their address and arrived at around 11.50pm on the night they went missing.
