Savannah Soto pregnant San Antonio woman & boyfriend Matthew Guerra believed to have been murdered as cops seek persons of interest in capital murder case as new surveillance footage is released.
Texas police have released surveillance footage of a ‘persons of interest’ in the shooting deaths of pregnant San Antonio teenager Savannah Soto, 18, and her boyfriend Matthew Guerra, 22.
The case which was originally thought to be that of a murder-suicide is increasingly beginning to appear that the boyfriend and girlfriend being targeted, possibly in relation to the Guerra’s presumed underworld activities.
The couple were found dead in Guerra’s car with bullet wounds to their heads on Tuesday, with Soto last seen at her apartment on Saturday when she was supposed to be induced into labor after being a week overdue.
Mystery meeting of two cars including that of vehicle in which victims’ bodies were found
Released footage from an area near to where the slain couple were found, showed one person driving a dark pickup truck and another driving a Silver Kia Optima belonging to Guerra.
Commenting on the ‘very perplexing’ case, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus stated investigators did not believe that the couple’s deaths were the result of a murder-suicide, as was initially speculated.
The police chief released the latest footage at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, and said it shows two people that are currently being sought by law enforcement in connection to the mystery murders.
One of the persons of interest can be seen getting out of the dark pickup truck – which had a bed cover – and approaching the drivers’ side of Guerra’s Kia Optima.
A second person then quickly follows and leaves the driver’s seat of the Kia, who McManus said was definitively not Guerra.
The chief declined to confirm whether Soto and Guerra were already dead when the video was taken, but added: ‘Clearly it was a heinous act.’
Piecing together mystery shooting
Earlier on Thursday before the footage was released, an autopsy officially ruled Soto’s death to be a homicide. She died from a gunshot wound to the head, while Guerra died from a ‘contact gunshot wound to the head’ – meaning the gun’s muzzle was pressed directly against his head when it was fired.
Their bodies sat in the car for three or four days until they were discovered, police said. Soto’s unborn baby did not survive.
In an attempt to piece together the shooting, McManus said investigators are poring over surveillance videos from the area, and are also looking into the couple’s internet and phone activity on the night of the possible murders.
Anyone with any information is encouraged to call SAPD Homicide at (210) 207-7674 or (210) 207-7440. ‘You can remain anonymous when providing any information on this case,’ SAPD said.
Guerra’s Kia Optima was found in a car park on Danny Kaye Drive in San Antonio after a witness messaged Soto’s sister-in-law Joanie Wasil on Facebook.
History of domestic violence
Wasil saw Soto in the front passenger seat and Guerra in the back. She glanced at Soto’s face ‘and didn’t want to see any more’.
Soto took out a restraining order against Guerra a year ago after he beat her on Christmas Day 2022 and was charged with assault. The order of protection — despite the couple expecting — continued to remain active.
‘You are prohibited from intentionally, knowingly or recklessly communicating with Savannah Soto, whether by telephone, in writing, or in person in a harmful or injurious manner,’ court records stated.
The documents did not provide details on the 2022 assault.
Guerra violated his parole for the domestic violence charge and was back court in June charged with three new felonies: evading arrest, unlawfully having a firearm, and reckless driving the dailymail reported.
‘The defendant demonstrates being in the pre contemplation stage and wants to continue to engage in criminal activity,’ cited court documents stated.
Guerra who is thought to have engaged in illegal money making opportunities also failed to seek lawful employment or attend battery counseling classes.
Underworld activities?
Images on social media showed Guerra holding thick bundles of hundred dollar notes in the style of career criminal gangsters.
After the teen girl’s disappearance, a neighbor of Soto and Guerra claimed they witnessed the boyfriend ‘arguing [with] and beating her almost every day’.
‘I witnessed him beating her and kicked her downstairs while she was unconscious,’ the unnamed person said, adding that ‘he kicked her body and face’ and ‘she needed stitches.’
Despite a documented history of violence, Guerra’s mother claimed her son was not abusive.
‘I know my son and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her,’ Karen Hernandez posted online in the days when the couple was still missing.
‘As a mother, I know my son and his girlfriend were taken against their will because my son does what he does for money.’
Hernandez did not elaborate on what exactly her son did for money.
Are couple’s deaths connected to recent courtroom brawl?
Soto’s family insisted she wouldn’t have run away as they made a Christmas Day appeal for help to find her.
‘I don’t know where she’s at or where she could be at because this is not like her,’ her mother Gloria Cordova told reporters.
‘She was so excited to have this baby, the house is already baby-ready. She was so excited she was going to be a mommy.‘
Soto’s family was recently involved in a courtroom brawl with supporters of the teenager accused of murdering her brother last year.
Ethan Soto, 15, was shot dead in what is believed to be revenge for a drug robbery in May 2022, according to San Antonio police.
Victor Nathaneal Rivas was taking the stand in court, when members of the Soto family launched at him, triggering a huge brawl.
Footage showed at least four members jumping a partition and throwing punches at Rivas – who allegedly provoked the group by making a gesture at them.
It remained unclear if the court-room brawl was related the shooting deaths of Guerra and Soto in a kind of revenge in a behind the scenes underworld.
