SAN ANTONIO – Jurors in the capital murder trial of Christopher Preciado were shown a detailed timeline Monday of the night Savanah Soto, her boyfriend Matthew Guerra and their unborn child were killed in December 2023, in what prosecutors say was tied to a drug deal.
The trial is in its second week. The lead detective walked jurors through multiple surveillance videos from that night, including footage that investigators say shows the victims’ car arriving at the Preciado home around 11:50 p.m. with Christopher approaching.
About two minutes later, Christopher is seen running back toward the home and then back to the car before it drives off, according to the timeline presented in court.
Around the same time, Christopher’s parents come outside. They then get into their truck and leave as the victims’ car circles the home again.
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At 11:59 p.m., the truck is seen arriving at a nearby apartment complex. A minute later, both the truck and the victims’ car leave. By 12:13 a.m., the truck arrives back home, with Christopher seen getting out with his parents.
During testimony about the surveillance footage, a witness pointed out what appeared to be blood on Preciado’s pants, saying, “If you look here, you kinda see what appears to be apparent blood or what appears to be blood on the pants of the defendant.”
Jurors also saw video of Preciado inside a San Antonio Police Department interrogation room before homicide Detective Jeremy Goodwin questioned him. The detective described to the jury how, at one point, Preciado appeared to find a hair in his sleeve, roll it up in his finger and place it in his right pocket. A short time later, the detective said, Preciado got up to move his chair and used his wrists or palms to move it instead of grabbing it.
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In the interrogation, Preciado alleged a gun was pointed at him and that it went off. In a recorded statement played for jurors, Preciado said, “I couldn’t tell my dad. I couldn’t tell my mom they didn’t even know that I was buying, at the time, So I didn’t know how to go about it, so I didn’t know what to do, so I just put him in the backseat where I was sitting and I drove the car.”
When asked, “Where did you drive it to?” Preciado responded, “I drove it to the apartments and left it there.”
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Detective Goodwin also asked whether Preciado met anyone at the apartment complex. Preciado told the detective he called his dad to pick him up and said he did not want to tell his dad anything. He told the detective, “I just almost got robbed… he pulls a gun on me…. and I push it away.”