Jurors were shown police body-camera footage capturing the frantic moments family members discovered Soto and Guerra’s bodies inside Guerra’s car on Dec. 26, 2023.
SAN ANTONIO — A jury was shown graphic evidence and listened to emotional testimony on day one of the Christopher Preciado trial. Preciado is accused of killing Savanah Soto, her boyfriend Matthew Guerra and their unborn son in December 2023.
Police noted the killings stemmed from a drug deal and described their deaths as an execution. During opening statements, prosecutor Melissa Alban told jurors they would hear evidence showing that, despite any poor decisions made by the victims, they did not deserve to die.
“You’re going to hear that they made choices that many of us would not make. But the penalty for those poor choices should not be execution and the evidence is going to prove to you that on Dec. 21 of 2023 that is exactly what Christopher Preciado did to them and their unborn baby. He executed them,” Alban said.
The defense team argued that the prosecution’s case lacks direct evidence.
“What she (Alban) did not say and what we believe the evidence will show is that there are no eyewitnesses for this offense. Nobody’s going to testify and say they saw Christopher Preciado pull a trigger with any sort of intent or deliberation. There’s no video evidence of this crime that took place,” said defense attorney Joseph Esparza.
The jury heard from multiple witnesses, including one who recalls identifying Guerra’s car in the parking lot of the Leon Valley apartment complex in the 5900 block of Danny Kaye. She saw the missing couple deceased inside the car.
Jurors were shown police body-camera footage capturing the frantic moments family members discovered Soto and Guerra’s bodies inside Guerra’s car on Dec. 26, 2023. The discovery came just a day after authorities issued a CLEAR Alert for Soto, who was believed to be in a gray Kia Optima.
Leon Valley Police Detective Andy Griego testified about responding to what began as a welfare check but quickly became a crime scene. He described attempting to keep distraught family members away from the vehicle.
“I’m trying to protect the crime scene by pushing the family that had arrived away from the vehicle,” Griego said.
San Antonio firefighter and EMT Jeremiah Lara also took the stand, describing the grim nature of Soto and Guerra inside the vehicle.
“I saw a female in the front passenger side and a male in the back, there was plenty of blood in the back,” Lara testified, adding that a car seat was found on top of the female victim.
Defense attorneys claim Preciado acted in self-defense, though prosecutors argue the evidence does not support that claim.
The trial is expected to continue Wednesday at 10 a.m.
While livestreaming is not allowed by the court for this trial, KENS 5 is providing daily live updates.