Closing arguments conclude; jurors begin deliberations in Christopher Preciado capital murder trial
BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – 2:18 p.m. – KSAT 12 News has learned that jurors have reached a verdict in the capital murder trial of Christopher Preciado.
After nearly two hours (one hour and 56 minutes) of deliberations, the jury found Preciado guilty of capital murder. He has been automatically been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The capital murder trial of a man accused of killing a young couple and their unborn child is nearing the beginning of its end on Thursday.
Christopher Preciado, who pleaded not guilty, is on trial for the Dec. 21, 2023, murders of Matthew Guerra, Savanah Soto and their unborn child.
Closing arguments ended just after noon. Jurors began deliberations at approximately 12:20 p.m.
Judge Jennifer Pena, who is presiding over the trial in Bexar County’s 290th Criminal District Court, began reading Preciado’s charge of the court just after 10 a.m.
Judge Jennifer Pena is presiding over the Christopher Preciado capital murder trial on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (KSAT)
Closings arguments began just before 10:30 a.m. Ross Lewis, Bexar County co-prosecutor, began arguing on behalf of the state.
“Three deaths. $300,” Lewis told the jury. “But here’s a note: you cannot rob someone in self-defense. The mugger doesn’t get to claim self-defense as they’re robbing you, and you’re putting up a fight. And they kill you.”
Bexar County co-prosecutor Ross Lewis presents a closing argument on behalf of the state in the capital murder trial of Christopher Preciado on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (KSAT)
Lewis reminded the court of the state’s case built with 36 witnesses, including testimony from San Antonio Police Department detective Jeremy Goodwin.
“That’s why you heard from so many witnesses,” Lewis concluded. “And then (SAPD) detective (Jeremy) Goodwin was able to bring it all in — and bring it all together — so that it is very, very clear: that Matthew (Guerra) and Savanah (Soto) had no idea what was waiting for them.”
Joseph Esparza, Preciado’s co-defense attorney, began the defense’s first closing argument.
Joseph Esparza, Christopher Preciado’s co-defense attorney, began the defense’s first closing argument on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (KSAT)
“We don’t know what exactly happened in the vehicle that night, and that’s the truth of it,” Esparza told jurors. “We have a reconstruction. We know what they (the state) want you to believe, but all of the state’s witnesses — including their experts — were unanimous. They don’t know and can’t tell you what happened in the vehicle that night, and that’s the core problem of this case.”
Esparza concluded his closing argument. His colleague, fellow co-defense attorney Monica Guerrero, started her closing argument.
“I wrote a list here,” Guerrero told the court. “So, there is no eyewitness. There’s no one here that is an eyewitness to this case. No one. There’s no video. There’s never a video anywhere inside that vehicle. There’s no GoPro’s. There’s no hidden video anywhere that shows what happened.”
Monica Guerrero, a co-defense attorney for Christopher Preciado, presented her closing argument to jurors on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (KSAT)
Guerrero also told the jury there wasn’t gunshot residue or DNA evidence presented in court that linked Preciado to the shooting.
As her closing argument continued, Guerrero said there was a “lot of bad parenting going on here.”
“He (Preciado) had a sweatshirt that says, ‘Virginity Rocks.’ It’s in the pictures,” Guerrero said in court. “I can’t find it right now, but they (the state) showed it to you all. This is the kind of guy that they’re saying is a stone cold executioner, to use (Bexar County co-prosecutor) Ms. (Melissa) Alban’s word when she started this case. That these people were executed. They’re saying that guy (Preciado) is an executioner. She showed you pictures at the very beginning of Matthew (Guerra) holding a gun.”
Guerrero also argued against Soto’s line of thinking for “going to a drug deal.”
“Does she (Soto) not watch TV?” Guerrero asked in court, in part. “Drug deals go bad. I mean, even in their apartment, he (Guerra) has a big poster of ‘Scarface.’ Even that little medal that he wears is a tribute of ‘Scarface.’ And, at the end of ‘Scarface,’ ‘Scarface’ is no longer around. So, it’s like ‘Scarface’ meets the ‘Queen of the South,’ and she (Soto) joins the family business, too.”
After Guerrero, Alban began the state’s final closing argument.
Alban told jurors that the prosecution “did not shy away from the fact” that Guerra was a drug dealer.
“That doesn’t mean they deserved what happened to them,” Alban said. “That does not justify the execution that this man (Preciado) perpetrated on them. It doesn’t.”
Bexar County co-prosecutor Melissa Alban presented the state’s final closing argument in the Christopher Preciado capital murder trial on Thursday, March 26, 2026. (KSAT)
Alban also responded to Guerrero’s earlier argument about a lack of DNA evidence in this case.
“So, no. We don’t have DNA because they (Alban gestured in the Preciados’ direction) destroyed it. That is a fact. He (Preciado) even stated that they ‘wiped it down.’ … What you see on TV and crime scene shows and true crime movies isn’t real. … So, there is no DNA result from the gun. It’s not that the DNA proved that it wasn’t Chris(topher) that touched it; it’s that there is no result. It was not analyzed. It was sent, but it wasn’t analyzed.”
Watch the prosecution and the defense’s Thursday closing arguments in the below video player.
Background
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.
Savanah Soto and Matthew Guerra (KSAT 12 News)
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.
Christopher Preciado, Myrta Romanos and Ramon Preciado (KSAT)
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.
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.
The case against Christopher Preciado moved forward and was finally set for trial.
The trial is expected to last more than a week. The witness list included law enforcement officers from multiple agencies, an expert witness and family members from the Guerra and Soto families.
The witness list also included Ramon Preciado and Romanos, but neither were asked to testify.
Witness testimony concluded on Wednesday, March 25, the seventh day of trial. In all, the prosecution called 36 witnesses to the stand.
The judge is not allowing the trial to be livestreamed, but KSAT 12 News will provide continuous updates on the case from inside the courtroom.
More coverage of the Christopher Preciado capital murder trial on KSAT:
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
