by A breakthrough has been made in the murders of a heavily pregnant Texas teenager and her boyfriend, as her heartbroken loved ones wait for more answers.
The bodies of Savanah Soto, 18, and Matthew Guerra, 23, were found shot to death on December 26 inside a Kia Optima in San Antonio. Her unborn baby also died in the car.
A search was launched for the couple after their families became alarmed when Soto failed to show up for a Dec. 23 appointment to have her labor induced.
After the murders were discovered, police released chilling images showing the couple’s Kia Optima and a dark-colored van with a quilt. Police said one person of interest was driving the Kia Optima and the other was driving the pickup truck.
A week later, San Antonio police arrested and charged two people in connection with the deaths.
Many questions remain 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, a city in Bexar County, Texas. The teenager lived there with Guerra, the father of her son, according to relatives.
Police described her as a 5-foot-1-inch pregnant woman with brown hair and brown eyes.
Her family became concerned when she failed to show up for a hospital appointment the following days. She was a week past her due date and she was scheduled to have an induced labor, the family told the local station. KENS-TV.
Her mother, Gloria Córdova, said she last heard from her daughter on Friday afternoon and got no answer when she knocked on her apartment door on the afternoon of Dec. 23.
Córdova added that he had also not been able to contact Guerra since his daughter’s disappearance.
Leon Valley Police issued a CLEAR 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 mom. “It breaks my heart,” her mother said. KENS-TV.
Where were they found?
The couple was found dead on December 26 in a parked car in San Antonio, Texas.
Someone saw the car in the parking lot of an apartment complex in San Antonio and alerted the family. KENS-TV reported. Then the relatives called the police.
Two bodies were found in the Kia Optima. Police Chief William McManus said at a news conference that the bodies could have been there for three or four days.
Who are the suspects?
Police arrested two people in connection with the Jan. 3 deaths.
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 Ramón did not participate in the murders.
He said more charges may be filed regarding the unborn baby.
The suspects were located after a key piece of evidence was recovered from Soto’s cell phone, which pointed authorities to the possible location of the van and eventually the two suspects’ home.
What was the reason?
While the exact motive for the murders has yet to be established, Sergeant Moscoso previously said it appeared to be a failed drug deal.
At a press conference on December 28, police released video capturing two persons of interest wanted in connection with the murders.
In the video, a dark-colored van with a quilt is seen entering a parking lot in San Antonio.
The couple’s Kia Optima is seen driving and stopping next to the truck.
Police said one person of interest was driving the Kia Optima and the other was driving the pickup truck.
One of the persons of interest is seen getting out of the truck and approaching the driver’s side of the victims’ car, appearing to talk to the person inside.
The second person of interest is then seen getting out of the driver’s side of the Kia Optima.
San Antonio Police Chief William McManus told reporters that none of the victims are visible in the images.
The police chief did not confirm whether the video was believed to have been captured before or after the murders occurred.
It is unclear if the victims previously knew the suspects.
Relatives of the couple have also offered conflicting theories about what may have happened.
Soto’s sister-in-law alleged that she was being abused. “I will not allow you to be one of those statistics of what happens when you have an abusive boyfriend,” she wrote on social media, in a post seen by The New York Post.
Her mother also posted on Facebook: “I am concerned for her safety, she is [with] her boyfriend who is not good.”
But according to him New York PostGuerra’s mother wrote on social media: “If anyone knows, my son Mateo Guerra is missing, he and his pregnant girlfriend are missing. “I know my son and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.”
A grieving family
It is not the first time that tragedy has struck the Soto family.
In 2022, Savanah Soto’s brother, 15-year-old Ethan Soto, was shot and killed. “It’s difficult, it’s like one after another,” said Gloria Córdova. Kens.
“It still hurts because what I tell my children is that I’m not complete, I’m not complete and now I don’t have my daughter,” she said.
In October, the man accused of Ethan’s murder was beaten in the courtroom. According The Daily MailFootage allegedly showed members of the Soto family lunging at him as he took the stand.
The images showed several individuals jumping over a partition and throwing punches at the man, who allegedly gestured 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 most wonderful time of the year, but it’s not, it’s the WORST.
“We try our best to give my daughter a good Christmas, but it’s so hard to want to feel happy, instead we’re just heartbroken. “Savanah and baby Fabian are supposed to celebrate with us, this is not fair.”
In a separate post, Ms Delgado later requested that the family be allowed to grieve.
