Ramon Preciado was back in court Monday in connection with the 2023 deaths of Savanah Soto, Matthew Guerra and their unborn child.
Preciado appeared in Bexar County’s 437th District Court, where Judge Joel Perez pushed prosecutors and defense attorneys to set a trial date for him.
Preciado is accused of helping his son, Christopher Preciado, cover up the killings. Christopher Preciado was sentenced to life in prison in March.
Ramon Preciado’s attorney told the judge the defense has finished reviewing the transcript from Christopher Preciado’s trial, a document the attorney described as “very large.”
The judge directed both sides to work with the court coordinator on a jury trial scheduling order, saying it should be filed as soon as possible. If the trial cannot be scheduled before the holidays, Perez said, it should be set for early next year.
No trial date has been set. Perez said he will review the proposed schedule once it is filed.
Soto, who was expected to be induced to deliver her son, never showed up for her appointment on Dec. 22, 2023.
Soto and her boyfriend, Guerra, were last heard from on Dec. 21, 2023, according to family and police statements.
Soto’s family soon reported her as a missing person. Authorities issued a statewide CLEAR Alert on Christmas Day. One day later, on Dec. 26, 2023, police said Soto and Guerra were found dead in Guerra’s vehicle at a Leon Valley apartment complex.
On Jan. 3, 2024, Christopher Preciado, who was 19 at the time, was arrested and charged with capital murder. His father, Ramon Preciado, was arrested on charges of tampering with evidence and abuse of a human corpse, according to arrest records and police statements.
Authorities later arrested Myrta Romanos, Christopher Preciado’s mother, on allegations that she tried to help cover up the crime.
Soto and Guerra’s families said they did not know Christopher and Ramon Preciado. Police said the dispute that led to the killings began with a drug deal.
According to an arrest affidavit, Christopher Preciado told police that Guerra pulled a gun on him and that he was able to “manipulate it.” Soto and Guerra were shot during that sequence.
In February 2025, Ramon Preciado was released from the Bexar County Adult Detention Center after his bond was reduced.
In September 2026, Ramon Preciado’s defense team was given 60 days to review the murder trial transcript from Christopher Preciado’s capital murder trial. The transcript of the March trial is allegedly “thousands of pages” long.
Romanos was expected to go to trial in November 2025. However, after the state sought a reset that the court denied, prosecutors dismissed all charges against Romanos.
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