Over a week after pregnant Texas teen Savanah Soto and boyfriend Matthew Guerra killed, a father and son have been arrested
A father and son have been arrested in the shooting deaths of a pregnant Texas teen and her boyfriend, San Antonio police announced late Wednesday.
Savanah Nicole Soto, 18, and her boyfriend, Matthew Guerra, 22, were reported missing in late December before they were found dead in Guerra's car several days later. The couple disappeared a day before Soto, who was 9 months pregnant, was scheduled to be induced to give birth. Both Soto and Guerra were found with gunshot wounds.
Police say they charged Christopher Preciado, 19, with capital murder and Ramon Preciado, 53, with abuse of a corpse for allegedly helping Christopher move the bodies after the killings.
Police Sgt. Washington Moscoso told reporters Ramon didn't participate in murders, which happened on Dec. 21, just before midnight.
Moscoso said the two were the only suspects being sought. More charges are possible with respect to the unborn baby, he added.
Moscoso said a botched drug deal was apparently involved.
A key piece of evidence, Moscoso pointed out, was Savanah Soto's cellphone, whose data the U.S. Secret Service helped analyze.
When police showed up at Ramon's home, Moscoso noted, Ramon knew why they were there and, after Ramon and Christopher were interrogated, police had enough information to seek an arrest warrant
Soto's family praised the arrests. Her mother posted on Facebook that the arrests were "justice" for her daughter, unborn grandchild, and Guerra.
"God is great!!! Great work SAPD," her aunt, Lara Cordova, texted CBS News. "Justice will be served for my Niece Savanah & Baby Fabian & Matthew"
Police released video last week showing what they described as two persons of interest. One person was seen driving a dark Chevy Silverado with a bed cover, and another was seen driving Guerra's Kia Optima. San Antonio Police Department Chief Bill McManus said last week the video was recorded "very close to" where the bodies were found and a few days before they were discovered.
He said at the time he didn't know if the two people in the video had any connection to the victims. He said police don't believe the person seen driving the Optima was Guerra or Soto.
Two GoFundMe pages set up for the couple had raised over $23,000 as of Thursday morning.
- In:
- San Antonio
- Texas
- Murder
Jordan Freiman is an editor and writer for CBSNews.com. He covers breaking news, trending stories, sports and crime. Jordan has previously worked at Spin and Death and Taxes.