“I feel like this was one last quick deal before they went to have their son.”
Why? Is there evidence that he was actively looking for a job/job training?
Found Deceased TX - Savanah Soto, 18, Leon Valley, 22 December 2023 #2 *Arrests*
- Thread starter archenemy toenail
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Why? Is there evidence that he was actively looking for a job/job training?
JerseyWasHome2
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I've been wondering if the announcement that BOTH were involved in dealing narcotics was to send a clear message that there should be no retaliations or attacks on MGs "side" by those associated with SS. That is, this wasn't a one-sided form of income that she had no awareness of, and that both were equally involved.
I don't mean last deal forever, I meant one last deal before the next day when she was being induced. Why would they decide to go rob this guy at gunpoint with her 9 months pregnant and about to be induced in the morning? I might be giving them too much credit, but I would think if they were about to become parents for the first time, they wouldn't be heading out to rob a buyer literally hours before going to the hospital. Seems more likely that buyer was trying to rob them.
One of the provisions of SYG in Texas is that the "ground stander" cannot be engaged in any illegal activity while making an SYG claim.
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If the gun found at CP's residence proves to be the incident weapon: we have to wonder why it wasn't discarded or hidden prior to the arrests? Even the first night...
I don't consider the meet arrangement to be all that strange but I do wonder where the Kia was immediately prior to its arrival at the Charley Chaplin house....whether it stopped in some obscure but nearby location. I do not believe that MG had any intent to rob and I also don't believe that CP had the intent to simply rob although had things gone totally to plan any money or merchandise would be removed from the Kia. With consideration of the injuries and the minimal shots, there was some preparation to the murders.
What's hard to get around is that if these killings were plotted and planned for profit, that planning did not consider anything past the discharge of the gun. Dealing with the bodies and the car was not pre-planned in any meaningful way. If RP was involved in the planning surely a much more thorough and obfuscating means of disposal would have been devised.
Though: if the weapon found in the home is the murder weapon, that alone indicates that father and son are not the sharpest knives in the drawer.
JMO and with more than a little confusion...
Minor point: Her appointment to be induced was at 6:30 pm, not in the morning.
The induction is done at night because it takes several hours to dilate enough for a delivery, hopefully the next day.
cujenn81
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I transcribed today's presser.
CHIEF MCMANUS: I’ve asked District Attorney Joe Gonzalez to be here today and make a few comments at the end of this briefing, and we’ll make this short and sweet. Most of the information I have here, I think you’ve already been privy to. I do have a little bit of new information. The information I’m going to give you, I will answer questions to clarify but I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about anything else simply because this is an open investigation, and we still have a lot of work to do.
Again, my condolences to the families of Savanah and Matthew. By now everybody is aware of the incidents, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time rehashing facts that are already known but I will go over them high-level.
On 12-26-23, our officers discovered two deceased individuals in a Kia Optima, and our homicide detectives at that point began their investigation right on that scene. Detectives learned that both victims were involved in the sale of narcotics and used their cell phones to conduct much of their business. Detectives collected the victims’ phones, and with the help of the United States Secret Service who were able to extract information, that led to the development of a possible location of a suspect vehicle that was seen on a surveillance video. That occurred on Wednesday, 1-3-24. Detectives drove to that location and saw the suspect’s vehicle. They approached the home where the suspect’s vehicle was, and they knocked on the door. An individual by the name of Ramon Preciado answered the door and seemed to know why SAPD was there and cooperated with the investigation. Both Ramon and Christopher were home and brought to the SAPD homicide office for questioning. During the interviews, both suspects made statements to implicate themselves in the murder. Detectives got warrants for their arrests. Christopher was arrested on the charge for capital murder; Ramon was arrested on the charge for abuse of a corpse.
Yesterday, 1-4, more charges were filed. Christopher was also charged with abuse of a corpse, altering, destroying, or concealing evidence of a human corpse. Ramon was also charged with altering, destroying, or concealing evidence of a human corpse. Detectives also conducted a search warrant at the home of the suspects, where evidence was recovered. There is still an active investigation, and I’m not going to go into too much of the details, as I previously said, because I don’t want to jeopardize the integrity of the case or make the DA’s job any harder once he gets involved in it.
The final piece of information that I have for you is that the gun believed to be the murder weapon has been recently recovered from the suspect’s home. I will share that with you.
Joe, would you like to say a few words?
DA GONZALEZ: Thank you, Chief. Good morning, everyone. First, I want to thank Chief McManus for inviting me to be a part of this press conference. And before I begin, I also want to extend my condolences to the Soto and Guerra families as they are in the midst of mourning. They are in the midst of grieving for the loss of their loved ones. So, I think it would be appropriate for us to give them the respect that is due to them during this period.
But I do want to say, as I mentioned before, arrests were made. I was confident because I knew the kind of work that happens over here. I know the kind of dedication that the San Antonio police department has. They would identify suspects and make arrests, and that’s exactly what happened. So, I want to commend Chief McManus, I want to commend the entire command staff, and I especially want to call out the lead homicide detective for doing an outstanding job. I’m sure it’s typical. He may have had others assist him, but I know that his team was working around the clock, and it made a difference. Because we always want to formulate a suspect as soon as possible. We always want to identify someone who is a perpetrator of a crime as soon as possible. And that happened here. So, again, my gratitude to the entire department, and specifically, to the detectives that were involved in this case.
As I had said recently, our job is just beginning, but we have to give SAPD time to complete their investigation. What they do when they – and the term is walking a warrant – when they present an affidavit for an arrest warrant, they only need to present probable cause to a magistrate judge, but that’s only the beginning. They have the responsibility to complete the investigation, and I know that they will do that. They will do an outstanding job, as they’ve done so far. So, let’s give them the time to do what they need to do. We have 90 days to indict these cases, and so I’m sure that they’re going to get a prosecution guide – which is the term that we use for a complete file. I’m sure that they will get it to us in the appropriate time and before that 90-day timeline. So, again, I want to commend everyone involved in the San Antonio police department for doing an outstanding job, and identifying suspects, and making arrests. Let’s let the detectives complete their job. Let’s let them file the cases in our office and we’ll make the charging decisions, and we’ll go from there.
And again, I can’t overestimate this, in order to bring justice to the memory of these two victims, and in order to bring justice to the survivors and the family members, it’s going to be a long road. But we have to take things one step at a time, so let’s do that. Let’s let SAPD do their job, and we’ll need some time to review the facts and make those charging decisions. And once a case is indicted, we’ll go to the next step. And I’m sure I’ll have questions about this. Let me get this out there right now.
There have been questions about whether or not this will be something we will seek the death penalty on. It’s too early to tell. I don’t know whether or not this is something that we will make that decision. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, as in every other case where we have a defendant who is death penalty eligible. We have a Capital Crimes Committee that will meet, that will hear a presentation from the lead prosecutor in the court where this case ends up, and then we will discuss the facts that go into making the decision to seek the death penalty. But again, it is too early to tell. We don’t want to put the cart before the horse. Let’s wait until we get the entire case file in our office, and once that happens – once… I anticipate that we will have indictments returned, but we have to wait and let a grand jury make that decision. But after that, then we will take it to the next level and make whatever decisions that we need to make. Thank you very much.
CHIEF MCMANUS: I’ll take a few questions.
Q: On the gun that was recovered at the suspect’s home, have you guys done any tests? Run ballistics on the gun to see if there’s been any other connection to the crime?
A: I will just say that we believe it’s the gun that was used in the murder. As far as the testing and ballistic results go, I’m not sure quite what they have yet.
Q: Can you help clear something up on the surveillance video? We’ve had a lot of people reach out. It appears as if someone tosses the towel to Preciado before he wipes door on the sedan, is that how it played out? What can you tell us about that small part?
A: Yeah, that’s something that we’re still looking into. It’s something that has been brought up in conversation about this. So, we’re still looking into that.
Q: And that could potentially be a third suspect or someone that was there while the bodies were dropped off?
A: As the investigation continues, it could be. I’m not saying it is, I’m just saying it’s possible.
Q: If someone was there, if there was a second person in that truck, are they – could they be charged with the same altering a corpse or you know moving the bodies?
A: They could be, but that’s something that would be determined once the level of that person’s involvement is understood. If that is the case at all.
Q: We saw police activity at the house of [undiscernible] Preciado. Were you – at the moment – are you questioning her?
A: I’m going to leave that question unanswered.
Ok, thank you everybody. Appreciate it.
Q: Can you go over the charges one more time for everybody?
A: Sure. So, the additional charges that were filed were for Ramon. Christopher was arrested on a capital murder charge. Ramon was arrested on a charge of abuse of a corpse. Yesterday, Christopher was also charged with abuse of a corpse, and he and Ramon were charged with altering, destroying, or concealing evidence.
Q: As far as the capital murder charges, could it be one, two, or three? Do you know how many charges that Christopher would face?
[Answer from someone else in the audience that could not be heard]
A: And any further questions you have, you might want to refer to the arrest affidavit.
** Unfortunately, I am not fluent enough in the Spanish language to transcribe/translate the Q/A with DA Gonzalez that was spoken in Spanish. **
Q: Your office released a statement in regards to Texas law that an unborn child is considered a person when it comes to the capital murder. Can you just reiterate that on camera?
DA GONZALEZ: Sure. Clearly we have enough to charge Christopher Preciado with capital murder because we have two adult victims. But under Texas law, when an unborn child -- under whatever period of gestation -- that unborn child is considered a person under Texas law for purposes of including an unborn child as an additional count for capital murder. We have every intention, of course, as Chief McManus made a comment that they intend to file three charges, listing three victims. We have every intention of including the unborn child as an additional count for capital murder. But again, we'll have to wait and see when the case is filed. But that's correct, we can charge someone with additional counts. While you're asking the question, let me clarify because it's already been asked why the father, Ramon Preciado, is not charged with capital murder. Someone can be charged with murder if that person is directly responsible because that person either intentionally or knowingly caused the death of the individual or that person can be charged as a party to a murder. But under Texas law, the only way that someone can be charged as a party is if that person has to aid, assist, encourage, or abet the commission of the offense intended. As far as we know, there is no evidence to indicate that the father was involved in the murder. Now, that may change as the case develops. The detective is going to continue his investigation. If there is at some point some evidence that the father was in fact involved in the murder, then that can change. But I know that there's a common conception [sic] when someone is an accessory, in fact that we can charge him, but he has to be more than an accessory, in fact, under Texas law. We have to be able to prove that he was a party to the offense. Again, for now, the only one that's being charged with capital murder is Christopher Preciado.
CHIEF MCMANUS: I’ve asked District Attorney Joe Gonzalez to be here today and make a few comments at the end of this briefing, and we’ll make this short and sweet. Most of the information I have here, I think you’ve already been privy to. I do have a little bit of new information. The information I’m going to give you, I will answer questions to clarify but I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about anything else simply because this is an open investigation, and we still have a lot of work to do.
Again, my condolences to the families of Savanah and Matthew. By now everybody is aware of the incidents, so I’m not going to spend a lot of time rehashing facts that are already known but I will go over them high-level.
On 12-26-23, our officers discovered two deceased individuals in a Kia Optima, and our homicide detectives at that point began their investigation right on that scene. Detectives learned that both victims were involved in the sale of narcotics and used their cell phones to conduct much of their business. Detectives collected the victims’ phones, and with the help of the United States Secret Service who were able to extract information, that led to the development of a possible location of a suspect vehicle that was seen on a surveillance video. That occurred on Wednesday, 1-3-24. Detectives drove to that location and saw the suspect’s vehicle. They approached the home where the suspect’s vehicle was, and they knocked on the door. An individual by the name of Ramon Preciado answered the door and seemed to know why SAPD was there and cooperated with the investigation. Both Ramon and Christopher were home and brought to the SAPD homicide office for questioning. During the interviews, both suspects made statements to implicate themselves in the murder. Detectives got warrants for their arrests. Christopher was arrested on the charge for capital murder; Ramon was arrested on the charge for abuse of a corpse.
Yesterday, 1-4, more charges were filed. Christopher was also charged with abuse of a corpse, altering, destroying, or concealing evidence of a human corpse. Ramon was also charged with altering, destroying, or concealing evidence of a human corpse. Detectives also conducted a search warrant at the home of the suspects, where evidence was recovered. There is still an active investigation, and I’m not going to go into too much of the details, as I previously said, because I don’t want to jeopardize the integrity of the case or make the DA’s job any harder once he gets involved in it.
The final piece of information that I have for you is that the gun believed to be the murder weapon has been recently recovered from the suspect’s home. I will share that with you.
Joe, would you like to say a few words?
DA GONZALEZ: Thank you, Chief. Good morning, everyone. First, I want to thank Chief McManus for inviting me to be a part of this press conference. And before I begin, I also want to extend my condolences to the Soto and Guerra families as they are in the midst of mourning. They are in the midst of grieving for the loss of their loved ones. So, I think it would be appropriate for us to give them the respect that is due to them during this period.
But I do want to say, as I mentioned before, arrests were made. I was confident because I knew the kind of work that happens over here. I know the kind of dedication that the San Antonio police department has. They would identify suspects and make arrests, and that’s exactly what happened. So, I want to commend Chief McManus, I want to commend the entire command staff, and I especially want to call out the lead homicide detective for doing an outstanding job. I’m sure it’s typical. He may have had others assist him, but I know that his team was working around the clock, and it made a difference. Because we always want to formulate a suspect as soon as possible. We always want to identify someone who is a perpetrator of a crime as soon as possible. And that happened here. So, again, my gratitude to the entire department, and specifically, to the detectives that were involved in this case.
As I had said recently, our job is just beginning, but we have to give SAPD time to complete their investigation. What they do when they – and the term is walking a warrant – when they present an affidavit for an arrest warrant, they only need to present probable cause to a magistrate judge, but that’s only the beginning. They have the responsibility to complete the investigation, and I know that they will do that. They will do an outstanding job, as they’ve done so far. So, let’s give them the time to do what they need to do. We have 90 days to indict these cases, and so I’m sure that they’re going to get a prosecution guide – which is the term that we use for a complete file. I’m sure that they will get it to us in the appropriate time and before that 90-day timeline. So, again, I want to commend everyone involved in the San Antonio police department for doing an outstanding job, and identifying suspects, and making arrests. Let’s let the detectives complete their job. Let’s let them file the cases in our office and we’ll make the charging decisions, and we’ll go from there.
And again, I can’t overestimate this, in order to bring justice to the memory of these two victims, and in order to bring justice to the survivors and the family members, it’s going to be a long road. But we have to take things one step at a time, so let’s do that. Let’s let SAPD do their job, and we’ll need some time to review the facts and make those charging decisions. And once a case is indicted, we’ll go to the next step. And I’m sure I’ll have questions about this. Let me get this out there right now.
There have been questions about whether or not this will be something we will seek the death penalty on. It’s too early to tell. I don’t know whether or not this is something that we will make that decision. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, as in every other case where we have a defendant who is death penalty eligible. We have a Capital Crimes Committee that will meet, that will hear a presentation from the lead prosecutor in the court where this case ends up, and then we will discuss the facts that go into making the decision to seek the death penalty. But again, it is too early to tell. We don’t want to put the cart before the horse. Let’s wait until we get the entire case file in our office, and once that happens – once… I anticipate that we will have indictments returned, but we have to wait and let a grand jury make that decision. But after that, then we will take it to the next level and make whatever decisions that we need to make. Thank you very much.
CHIEF MCMANUS: I’ll take a few questions.
Q: On the gun that was recovered at the suspect’s home, have you guys done any tests? Run ballistics on the gun to see if there’s been any other connection to the crime?
A: I will just say that we believe it’s the gun that was used in the murder. As far as the testing and ballistic results go, I’m not sure quite what they have yet.
Q: Can you help clear something up on the surveillance video? We’ve had a lot of people reach out. It appears as if someone tosses the towel to Preciado before he wipes door on the sedan, is that how it played out? What can you tell us about that small part?
A: Yeah, that’s something that we’re still looking into. It’s something that has been brought up in conversation about this. So, we’re still looking into that.
Q: And that could potentially be a third suspect or someone that was there while the bodies were dropped off?
A: As the investigation continues, it could be. I’m not saying it is, I’m just saying it’s possible.
Q: If someone was there, if there was a second person in that truck, are they – could they be charged with the same altering a corpse or you know moving the bodies?
A: They could be, but that’s something that would be determined once the level of that person’s involvement is understood. If that is the case at all.
Q: We saw police activity at the house of [undiscernible] Preciado. Were you – at the moment – are you questioning her?
A: I’m going to leave that question unanswered.
Ok, thank you everybody. Appreciate it.
Q: Can you go over the charges one more time for everybody?
A: Sure. So, the additional charges that were filed were for Ramon. Christopher was arrested on a capital murder charge. Ramon was arrested on a charge of abuse of a corpse. Yesterday, Christopher was also charged with abuse of a corpse, and he and Ramon were charged with altering, destroying, or concealing evidence.
Q: As far as the capital murder charges, could it be one, two, or three? Do you know how many charges that Christopher would face?
[Answer from someone else in the audience that could not be heard]
A: And any further questions you have, you might want to refer to the arrest affidavit.
** Unfortunately, I am not fluent enough in the Spanish language to transcribe/translate the Q/A with DA Gonzalez that was spoken in Spanish. **
Q: Your office released a statement in regards to Texas law that an unborn child is considered a person when it comes to the capital murder. Can you just reiterate that on camera?
DA GONZALEZ: Sure. Clearly we have enough to charge Christopher Preciado with capital murder because we have two adult victims. But under Texas law, when an unborn child -- under whatever period of gestation -- that unborn child is considered a person under Texas law for purposes of including an unborn child as an additional count for capital murder. We have every intention, of course, as Chief McManus made a comment that they intend to file three charges, listing three victims. We have every intention of including the unborn child as an additional count for capital murder. But again, we'll have to wait and see when the case is filed. But that's correct, we can charge someone with additional counts. While you're asking the question, let me clarify because it's already been asked why the father, Ramon Preciado, is not charged with capital murder. Someone can be charged with murder if that person is directly responsible because that person either intentionally or knowingly caused the death of the individual or that person can be charged as a party to a murder. But under Texas law, the only way that someone can be charged as a party is if that person has to aid, assist, encourage, or abet the commission of the offense intended. As far as we know, there is no evidence to indicate that the father was involved in the murder. Now, that may change as the case develops. The detective is going to continue his investigation. If there is at some point some evidence that the father was in fact involved in the murder, then that can change. But I know that there's a common conception [sic] when someone is an accessory, in fact that we can charge him, but he has to be more than an accessory, in fact, under Texas law. We have to be able to prove that he was a party to the offense. Again, for now, the only one that's being charged with capital murder is Christopher Preciado.
gliving
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| 2/5/2024 | PRE-HEARING SET D290 |
| 2/6/2024 | PRE-HEARING SET D175 |
Joe Friday
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Dhighsmith
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I’m grateful to LE for actively sharing information, it is though frustrating that general terms are used in statements as in their reporting on both victims involvement with narcotics, extremely broad reference. Some media reports indicate substance as marijuana, which is included under Texas law in lengthy list of narcotics- it simply allows for much speculation.
JMO
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Yeah without looking over the statutes, it's probably lumped with narcotics. MJ penalties are generally minimal unless trafficked in large amts.
However, the point is pretty much mote, because no one is being charged over selling drugs. I guess they could charge Chris if he was selling drugs, but if he was buying/selling small amts of MJ, I don't think they will bother.
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i don't know if we will ever know about whose gun it was as I doubt MG would have it registered and CP or SS isnt old enough to have a legal one (thinks its 21?)
I strongly suspect that confusion is the end result when:
Start with: - 4 people (suspects and adult victims), none of whom seem to be uhmm... "criminal master minds" decide to engage in a mutually risky criminal activity.
Add: - The possibility that some of the participants are prone to impulsive decisions under the "act now, think later- if at all" mode of criminal conduct.
Blend: - The possibility that the adult participants live in a gangster rap and narco corrido fantasy world where: "Heavies" "Dont take "sh--" from anybody, mystically vibe out danger- and deliver lethal responses, no rip off stunt ever backfires, over the top violence is the norm and..... nobody ever gets caught- never, ever!
The final plate then becomes a very confusing stew where neither perpetrators nor victims fully understand the receipe.
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Marie A
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Why 18-year-olds can buy AR-15s in Texas but not handguns
This week’s massacre in Uvalde highlights disparities in how federal laws regulate rifles and handguns. The shooter bought two rifles days after his 18th birthday.
www.texastribune.org
I remember early on hearing or reading that MG’s dad said his gun was gone (after he kicked the apartment door in)
I think SAPD already knows who the gun that they are testing belongs to.
I hope they devulge that information quickly.
All imho
Dhighsmith
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I definitely agree with comments narcotic criminal activity not being an issue but in earlier posts the actual substance involved seemed to influence discussions. So, that detail maybe somewhat indirectly connected in search to better understand circumstances.
Lack current stats for theory on the influence of stigma attached to heroine and meth likely impact opinions differently than marijuana. Possible perception of greater potential for risk involving heroine or meth than with simple marijuana transactions.
Just personal thoughts may not even be a factor in discussions.
nightowl1975
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It’ll be between 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit in SA at midnight tonight. However, in the days leading up to Christmas, it was much warmer at about 60-65 overnight.
#JUSTICE4WILDER
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Has there been new charges added to the father RP? Looking at the VINE Network just now his status is showing in custody? If this has been shared please excuse me, I'm confused. Because yesterday it clearly showed he was not in custody.
Friday Fan
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He never was out.
People were looking at magistrate's site and thinking he was gone.
#JUSTICE4WILDER
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No, I looked at the VINE LINK app yesterday and it showed out of custody.
As did @LovesPeace2 and one other member.
nightowl1975
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If the murder weapon belonged to MG, the prosecution is likely going to have an uphill climb getting capital murder to stick IMO.