San Antonio Police: Missing Pregnant Teen and Boyfriend Found Dead with Gunshot Wounds

Savannah Soto and Mathew Guerra
Rivera Kass/Facebook
Olivia Rondeau

A pregnant Texas teen and her boyfriend, who went missing on Friday after the mom-to-be missed her scheduled inducement, have been found dead after days of searching.

Savana Soto, 18, was last seen on December 22 in Leon Valley, the city’s police department said in an earlier statement. A Tuesday update from local officials said that the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) had found Soto’s body within its jurisdiction and would be taking over the investigation. 

SAPD Chief William McManus announced on Tuesday night that Soto and her 22-year-old boyfriend, Matthew Guerra, were found dead in Guerra’s Kia Optima in what he described as a “perplexing crime scene.”

“Detectives right now are looking at this as a possible murder…but we don’t know for sure,” the chief said.

While the medical examiner has yet to officially confirm the identities of the deceased, a family member of Guerra’s confirmed to KEN5 that police had informed him/her that the couple was found with gunshot wounds inside Guerra’s vehicle. 

Soto and Guerra had lived together in a Leon Valley apartment before their deaths.

When a reporter asked how long the bodies had been in the car before they were found, McManus estimated “three or four days.”

Soto’s mother, Gloria Cordova, pleaded on Facebook for help locating her daughter the day after she was last seen, noting that she was past her due date.

“I’m worried about her safety,” the concerned mother said, adding that Soto was with her boyfriend, “who is no good.”

She also told KHOU that her daughter was excited to become a mother.

“Savanah was so, so happy because she was going to be a mommy. It breaks my heart,” she said.

More details emerged about Guerra after the couple was found dead, with NEWS4SA revealing that he was on probation for assaulting Soto on Christmas Day 2022.

Court records obtained by the outlet show that Guerra was charged with assaulting Soto and was put on probation, which was set to end in June 2024, but he picked up new charges, including unlawful carry of a weapon, evading arrest in a vehicle, and reckless driving.

Days after Guerra’s Christmas 2022 arrest, he was again arrested for contacting Soto in person. Court records show he was charged with violating a protective order, but that was dismissed in April 2023 due to a missing witness.

“​​As a result of the new charges and other violations, including not complying with the Battering Intervention and Prevention Program, a judge extended Guerra’s probation through February of 2025,” the outlet reported.

A new probation order issued in June 2023 allowed Guerra to have contact with Soto so long as it was not “harmful or injurious,” according to documents viewed by NEWS4SA. The probation order also prohibited Guerra from possessing firearms.

Soto’s sister-in-law appeared to agree with Cordova’s claim that Guerra was “no good,” with the New York Post reporting that she had accused him of abuse.

“I won’t allow you to be one of those statistics of what happens when u have an abusive boyfriend,” she reportedly wrote on social media.

Guerra’s mother also took to social media to deny the abuse allegations on behalf of her son in statements obtained by the Post.

“If anyone knows my son, Matthew Guerra, he and his pregnant girlfriend are missing… I know my son, and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her,” the mother reportedly said.

Police have not given any information as to whether or not Guerra was involved in Soto’s death.

SAPD Chief McManus said that the couple’s bodies had not yet been moved as of Tuesday evening, so it is unclear if there are any firearms inside the vehicle. 

The Bexar County Medical Examiner will conduct autopsies to officially determine the cause of their deaths.

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