18-year-old Nicole Soto had been missing for several days before she was found dead in a car in San Antonio, Texas. Her boyfriend, Matthew Guerra, was also fatally shot.
The teen was last spotted at her apartment on Friday, just a day before she was scheduled to go to the hospital for an induced birth. At the time, she was living with her boyfriend, who had also gone missing.
On Tuesday, search teams found two bodies, a man and a woman, in a car. They subsequently called police, who confirmed that the woman was pregnant and that the unborn child was also dead.
Police later revealed in a statement that the woman and man had been fatally shot. They categorized it as a capital murder case.
Bill McManus, the Police Chief of the San Antonio Police Department, described it as a ‘very perplexing crime scene’ and said investigators are currently looking into the case, which is believed to be homicide.
McManus and his team believe the bodies are that of the pregnant woman and her boyfriend but cannot confirm that until the autopsy is completed by the medical examiner.
Gloria Cordova, the mother of the 18-year-old teen, told media outlets that she believes Soto was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
A History of Abuse In the Family
Soto’s mother confirmed that Soto and Guerra had been in an abusive relationship. She explained that he used to be abusive toward her and that she had told her to leave the relationship but wouldn’t listen.
As far as she understands, however, she was ready to leave him this time.
Laura Cordova, Soto’s aunt agreed, saying that the pair had a ‘rocky’ relationship and would fight often. Guerra even hit her during her pregnancy, which left her niece with many bruises.
The allegations of abuse, however, have not been verified or commented on by police.
According to her mother, the pair had argued about whether or not she should be in the delivery room during the birth. Cordova said Guerra did not want her to be there but her daughter disagreed.
Media outlets reached out to Guerra’s family after the incident but have not heard back. His father did, however, acknowledge that his son had a criminal history and had assaulted her girlfriend last year.
He explained that he didn’t ‘hang around the best crowd’ but that the two had been in a good relationship and were excited to welcome the baby boy, who they would name Fabian.
The Crime Scene
Sato’s brother, Jordan, told media outlets that police said they did not recover a weapon at the scene and that both of them were fatally shot in the back of the head.
Their aunt said the detectives told her Soto was found at the front of the car while Guerra was in the backseat, slumped over. Soto was also holding a car seat in her lap as they were going to the hospital.
Her family expressed grief and shock at the death of Solo and her unborn child. They had just lost Soto’s brother, Ethan, last year.
According to their aunt, Soto had been counting down the days until she gave birth and was excited about the ordeal.
