Bond reduced for second suspect in Savanah Soto, Matthew Guerra shooting deaths

SAN ANTONIO – A man charged last month in connection with the shooting deaths of Savanah Soto, 18, and Matthew Guerra, 22, had his bond reduced Monday following a hearing in the 186th District Court.

Ramon Preciado, 53, was arrested on Jan. 3 on charges of abuse of a corpse and altering destroying, or concealing a human corpse. Originally, the charges came with bonds of $100,000 and $500,000 respectively.

Police have said Christopher Preciado killed the couple during a drug deal gone bad and that his father, Ramon, and mother Myrta Romanos later helped him move the bodies to a Leon Valley apartment complex, where they were eventually discovered inside a car days later.

According to the arrest affidavit, Ramon Preciado admitted to detectives that he drove the pickup to the apartment complex to meet his son, which was seen on surveillance footage released by police.

Ramon also identified himself on surveillance video as the person getting out of the pickup and “knowingly treated the human corpse(s).”

Ramon’s attorney, John Kuntz, put his client on the stand to discuss his financial troubles. Their argument was the bond was too high for Ramon to ever pay to get out.

While on the stand, Ramon also discussed his health and claimed it was suffering while he was incarcerated. He shared that he’s diabetic and has been experiencing “episodes” while at the Bexar County Jail.

“I had an episode, and I fell back and I hit my head and it bounced off the metal door. And I slammed my 300-pound body on the floor. And I bounced,” Ramon said.

The prosecution argued that he’s receiving the same care from University Hospital in jail that he was getting outside of it, just not the same doctor.

The state also pointed out that Ramon’s family is not doing what they can to raise the money needed to put towards his bond.

Aside from the health issues and Ramon’s financials, his criminal history was also brought to the judge’s attention.

After examining multiple exhibits admitted during the hearing, the judge returned to the bench and heard closing arguments.

“I’ve never done anything wrong, I’m a good guy. You might have a lot of paperwork there but that doesn’t describe a person. That describes a boy. When a man changes who he is, he does things right. Things happen and you have to deal with it and here we are dealing with it,” Ramon said.

“Well. in the early 2000′s you weren’t a boy, you were in your early 30s, correct?” the prosecuting attorney asked.

“A boy in mind. In my mind,” Ramon replied.

While the judge considered both sides and looked over evidence off of the bench, Bexar County deputies arrested Soto’s mom, Gloria Cordova, who was observing the proceedings for an outstanding warrant.

In closing arguments, Kuntz asked for the bond amount to be dropped significantly to $120,000.

However, the judge only reduced the amount for the charge of altering, destroying, or concealing a human corpse to $350,000. Ramon’s bond total now stands at $450,000.

Guerra’s family also attended the hearing Monday, but declined to comment saying they didn’t want to do anything that could force a change of venue hearing.