SAN ANTONIO – A motion to reduce the bond for a man charged in connection with the shooting deaths of Savanah Soto, 18, and Matthew Guerra, 22, was denied on Monday.
Ramon Preciado, 54, 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. In February, his bond for the charge of altering destroying, or concealing a human corpse was reduced to $350,000.
Police have said Christopher Preciado killed the couple in December 2023 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 on Dec. 26.
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 Preciado also identified himself on surveillance video as the person getting out of the pickup and “knowingly treated the human corpse(s).”
During the bond hearing on Monday in Judge Miguel Najera’s 290th District Court, Ramon Preciado’s attorney, John Kuntz, put him on the stand to discuss his health and financial troubles.
Ramon Preciado said he was taken to the hospital about a month ago and was told he had a low potassium level. He said he was given the wrong medication and was overmedicated.
Ramon Preciado’s full hearing can be heard in the video player below:
He was released from the hospital on May 5, and about a week ago, he suffered an injury on his right arm that he suspects was a spider bite.
That injury turned into a cyst and then a staph infection, and he was given antibiotics. He said he suffered a similar injury to his left leg.
He was he was “very concerned” about his health, and he had preexisting health diagnoses before his arrest, like high blood pressure.
“They keep throwing me different medications,” he said. He said his health has gotten “a lot worse.”
Kuntz said the Preciado family cannot afford to pay his high bond, and the heightened attention to the case has prevented them from selling their house.
“Clearly the amounts are excessive and oppressive because it’s intended to keep him in jail... he’s going to clearly deteriorate,” Kuntz said.
The state asked the judge to consider his criminal history.
Kuntz asked for the bond amounts to be dropped significantly to a total of $35,000, but the judge denied the request.
This is Ramon Preciado’s second bond reduction hearing. In February, the judge reduced the amount for the charge of altering, destroying, or concealing a human corpse to $350,000.
At that time, Ramon Preciado said his health was suffering while he was incarcerated. He shared that he’s diabetic and has been experiencing “episodes” while at the Bexar County Jail.
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