Christopher Preciado and Ramon Preciado mug shots, Matthew Guerra and Savanah Nicole Soto (SAPD)
A third person has been arrested in connection to the murders of pregnant teen Savanah Soto and her boyfriend Matthew Guerra in Texas.
Christopher Preciado, 19, was charged with capital murder while his father, 53-year-old Ramon Preciado, was charged with abuse of a corpse in the couple’s executions, authorities previously announced. Now Ramon Preciado’s partner Myrta Romanos, 47, is facing charges of abuse of a corpse, tampering of evidence, and alter/destroy/conceal a human corpse.
The San Antonio Police Department says it was Romanos’ gun that Christopher Preciado used to murder Soto and Guerra. According to the probable cause affidavit posted on San Antonio ABC affiliate KSAT’s website, surveillance showed Romanos accompanied the Preciados as they drove Soto and Guerra’s car to another location and ditched it. Cops say Soto and Guerra were already dead inside the car.
Soto’s family reported her missing on Dec. 23 after she missed an appointment where she was scheduled to be induced for her pregnancy and they could not get ahold of her. Guerra’s family also could not reach him.
After a description of the car was sent out to the media, a resident contacted the family on Dec. 26 to say they saw the vehicle behind a building in the 5900 block of Danny Kaye Drive. Soto and Guerra were dead inside, suffering from gunshot wounds to the head. While Soto was in the front seat, Guerra was in the back seat and it appeared he had been shot first and then dragged into the vehicle, the affidavit said.
Surveillance video from the scene showed a Chevrolet Silverado with its lights turned off pull up on the block shortly before midnight on Dec. 21 followed by the victim’s vehicle. A man, who police later identified as Ramon Preciado, got out of the Silverado and walked up to the victim’s car and started talking to the driver, believed to be his son. Romanos allegedly threw a towel to Ramon Preciado so he could wipe down the driver’s side door of the victim’s vehicle.
Christopher Preciado then drove the victim’s vehicle behind the building and left with his father and Romanos in the Silverado, the affidavit said.
Detectives later learned Guerra sold drugs and posted pictures on social media of him with drugs and cash which made him a potential robbery target and he had reportedly been shot at before. The affidavit said a review of one of the victim’s cellphones — it didn’t say whether it was Soto’s or Guerra’s — showed one of them searched for Charlie Chan Drive. The victim vehicle also pinged to that location, which is not far from where it was recovered.
Investigators found the Silverado at a home on Charlie Chan Drive and Ramon Preciado reportedly came out to say he knew why they were there and that they should talk to his son. Cops transported the Preciados to the San Antonio Police Department headquarters for interviews. Ramon Preciado allegedly admitted to helping his son get rid of the bodies. Christopher Preciado allegedly told detectives that Soto and Guerra came to his home to sell him marijuana. He allegedly claimed Guerra pointed a gun at him and he “manipulated the weapon resulting in” Soto being shot. He allegedly said Guerra pointed the gun at him and he again “manipulated” the weapon and shot the victim. Police say the evidence does not support Christopher Preciado’s claims.
Romanos claimed she was sleeping the night of the murders but video showed her entering and later exiting the Silverado in her driveway with Ramon Preciado. Authorities took Romanos into custody on Monday and transported her to the Bexar County Jail.
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