Ramon Preciado walked back into a Bexar County courtroom Tuesday morning. It was his first court date since his son got life in prison.

His son is Christopher Preciado. A jury found him guilty of capital murder in March. The victims were Savanah Soto, her boyfriend Matthew Guerra, and Soto's unborn child. They were killed in December 2023.

Ramon Preciado is not charged with the killings. He is charged with tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Police say he helped his son move and hide the bodies. He has not gone to trial. He has not been convicted. He is presumed innocent.

Tuesday brought two changes to his case.

First, there is a new judge. Court records show Judge Jennifer Pena stepped off the case in August. She runs Bexar County's 290th Criminal District Court. She recused herself on her own. A recusal is when a judge decides not to hear a case. The records do not say why she did it. Judge Joel Perez now has the case in the 437th Criminal District Court.

Second, the case slowed down again. Preciado's lawyer, Ernest Acevedo, asked Perez for 60 more days. He said the defense only got the full transcript of Christopher Preciado's murder trial early last week. That transcript runs thousands of pages.

Perez said yes. The next court date is a status hearing in about 60 days. No trial date is set.

The judge noted one more thing. Both sides told the court that Ramon Preciado has been following his bond rules. He has been out of jail since February 2025. A judge cut his bond that month, and he walked out of the Bexar County Adult Detention Center.

The charges against him are simple to explain. Tampering with evidence means hiding, changing, or destroying something police need for a case. Abuse of a corpse means mistreating a dead body.

For the two families, Tuesday was one more wait. They have been waiting since Christmas week of 2023.

Soto was pregnant and close to giving birth. She was set to be induced on December 22, 2023. She never showed up for that appointment. Family and police said the last time anyone heard from Soto and Guerra was December 21.

Her family reported her missing. The state put out a CLEAR Alert on Christmas Day. One day later, on December 26, police found Soto and Guerra dead. They were inside Guerra's car at an apartment complex in Leon Valley.

Police arrested Christopher Preciado on January 3, 2024. He was 19 then. They charged him with capital murder. His father was arrested on the tampering and corpse charges.

Police said the fight that led to the shooting started with a drug deal. In an arrest affidavit, Christopher Preciado told police that Guerra pulled a gun on him. He said he was able to "manipulate it." Soto and Guerra were shot during that struggle. Both families said they did not know the Preciados.

The March trial ran more than a week. The jury was out about one hour and 56 minutes. Jurors found Christopher Preciado guilty on all three counts. That verdict left the court no choice on the sentence. He got life in prison with no chance of parole. He is 21 now.

Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales spoke after the verdict. "While no sentence can undo the tragedy faced by the loved ones of Matthew and Savanah, it honors their memory," he said.

Christopher Preciado is not done fighting. Days after the verdict, he asked the court for a new trial. He also filed an appeal. That is normal in a life sentence case.

His father's case has stalled before. Jury selection for Ramon Preciado's trial was set to start May 11 of this year. It was called off. No new date came after that.

He is not the only relative who faced charges. Police also arrested Myrta Romanos, Christopher Preciado's mother. They said she tried to help cover up the crime. Her trial was expected in November 2025. Prosecutors asked the court to push it back. The court said no. Prosecutors then dropped all charges against her.

That leaves Ramon Preciado as the last family member with an open case. If the 60 days hold, he is due back in front of Judge Perez in early November.

A charge is not proof. Everyone is innocent until a court says otherwise.