Preciado is accused in the deaths of a pregnant woman, Savanah Soto, as well as her boyfriend and unborn child. They went missing over the 2023 Christmas season.
SAN ANTONIO — It was a devastating crime that gripped San Antonio during the 2023 holiday season: A pregnant woman days away from giving birth, her boyfriend and their unborn child were killed in what police describe as a drug deal.
Now their families are looking to the courts for justice in the deaths of Savanah Soto, 19, Matthew Guerra, 22, and their child, a baby boy they named Fabian.
Soto was in final days of her pregnancy. A CLEAR Alert was issued on Christmas Day 2023 after she did not show up for her scheduled induction. Their bodies were found with bullet wounds on Dec. 26, 2023, in a car found at a northwest-side apartment complex.
Both Soto and Guerra had been shot in the head.
Nine days later, a father in son were booked into the Bexar County jail grisly crime. Come March, they were indicted.
Jury selection began Monday in the upcoming trial for Christopher Preciado, 21, the man charged with capital murder in their deaths. He was 18 years old at the time.
Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales has already said he will not pursue the death penalty in this case. The trial is taking place in the 290th District Court with Judge Jennifer Pena presiding.
The jury pool was a large one: 100 potential jurors were being questioned Monday in connection with the case. The process was expected to wrap up sometime in the afternoon.
About the case
The families have been waiting for justice since Dec. 22, 2023.
That was the day the victims were last seen alive in the 6000 block of Grissom Road in Leon Valley.
Initially, the incident was handled as a missing person case.
Soto, who was one week overdue to give birth, failed to show up at the hospital for a planned delivery for Fabian.
Family members said she and her partner vanished, sparking massive search effort that ended four days later. They had both been shot in the head.
At the time, San Antonio police said the car had been in the parking lot for days. They also said they thought the killing was due to an argument over a drug transaction.
After an aggressive investigation, Preciado was arrested on Jan. 4, 2024. He has been in jail ever since.
At the outset, Preciado told police he and Guerra argued during their meeting and he accused Guerra of pulling a weapon on him. Police said his claim of self-defense had some inconsistencies and the physical evidence didn’t match the story being told.
In addition to capital murder, Preciado’s other charges are tampering with a corpse and abuse of a corpse without legal authority.
There have been some complicating factors, in that there are others who have been charged in connection with aftermath of the deaths.
Christopher’s father, Ramon Preciado, and his stepmother, Myrta Romanos, were both charged with helping Christopher dispose of the bodies. The charges against the stepmom were dismissed in November, pending further investigation.
The charges against Ramon will go forward at another time. He is out of jail on bond while he awaits trial.
In addition to the criminal case, a $1 million civil lawsuit has also been filed against the three accused of involvement in the deaths.
The complicated and tragic details will take a while to present.
It’s said officials expect testimony will take more than one week before they get it into the hands of the jury.
KENS 5 will follow all the updates and happenings in court as the trial proceeds.