A Texas man found dead with his partner on the day she was due to give birth was on probation for assaulting her last Christmas, court records show.
The bodies of 22-year-old Matthew Guerra and his 18-year-old partner, Savanah Soto, were found in a car on December 26, a year and a day after Guerra attacked her on Christmas Day 2022.
On January 3, Christopher Preciado, 19, was charged with capital murder and abuse of a corpse, and his father, Ramon Preciado, 53, was charged with abuse of a corpse.
According to an arrest affidavit, Guerra had gone to Preciado's home to sell him marijuana on the night of December 21, 2023, and Preciado shot both Guerra and Soto and his father helped him move their bodies.
According to the arrest affidavit, Christopher Preciado drove Guerra's vehicle to the apartment complex down the street on Danny Kaye Drive, where the bodies were discovered five days later.
The arrest affidavit also states that Ramon Preciado admitted to detectives that he drove a vehicle to the apartment complex to meet his son, which was seen on surveillance footage released by police.
Details emerged of the complex relationship between Guerra and Soto. Guerra was arrested several days after the Christmas Day assault for making in-person contact with Soto. He was charged with violating a protective order. That charge was dismissed in April of 2023 due to a missing witness, documents show.
Guerra also refused to comply with a court-ordered anti-domestic violence program while on probation, court records show.
He was later charged with other crimes, including unlawful carry of a weapon, evading arrest in a vehicle and reckless driving.
He was also charged with failing to comply with the Battering Intervention and Prevention Program the court had ordered him to attend as a result of his Christmas Day assault on Soto.
A later probation order issued in June 2023 allowed Guerra to have contact with Soto so long as it was not "harmful or injurious." The probation order banned Guerra from possessing firearms. The judge also extended the end of Guerra's probation from June 2024 to February 2025.
Mariah Medina, an investigative reporter with News 4 San Antonio, posted the documents on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday.
San Antonio Police are leading the investigation into the couple's deaths. The Bexar County Medical Examiner will conduct autopsies to determine the cause and manner of their deaths.
Texas police had been searching for Soto after she failed to show up at the hospital for her scheduled induced labor. They now believe she was murdered the day that day, shortly after Guerra picked her up in his car.
San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) Chief William McManus held a press conference announcing that two people had been found dead in the car.
McManus said the bodies were found in a Kia, described previously as belonging to Guerra, at an apartment complex on the city's northwest side. The chief said he believed the two dead bodies inside the Kia were Soto and Guerra.
Newsweek reached out via email to SAPD for comment.
Gloria Cardova, who identified herself as Soto's mother on social media, posted to Facebook on December 23, pleading for the public's help in finding her daughter, saying that Soto was scheduled to be induced into labor at 6:30 p.m. that evening but did not show up to the hospital. She said that she is "worried about her safety."
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) issued a CLEAR Alert for Soto on Christmas Day after the teen, who was nine months pregnant, was reported to have last been seen around 2 p.m. December 22 with Guerra in the 6000 block of Grissom Road in Leon Valley, Texas.
CLEAR alerts are issued when one is in "imminent danger or disappearance was involuntary." DPS said Soto was driving a 2013 gray Kia Optima at the time of her disappearance.
"The Leon Valley Police Department has been notified of the disappearance of Savannah Nicole Soto, who was reported missing by her family," the alert read. "Ms. Soto, who is pregnant and has passed her delivery date, has caused significant concern among her family members after missing an essential medical appointment."
SAPD had been searching for a 2013 Kia Optima, which McManus confirmed is where the two bodies were found on Tuesday night. The chief said the family was alerted that the car was spotted at the apartment complex and called police.
Update 01/12/24 16:42 p.m. ET: This article was updated to include details of the arrest of Christopher and Ramon Preciado.
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