After a lengthy court hearing on Monday, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas announced that Cecily Aguilar was given a sentence of thirty years in prison for her part in the mutilation and hiding of the remains of soldier Vanessa Guillén. The punishment was handed down in connection with the case.
Aguilar entered a guilty plea on federal charges connected to the incident at Fort Hood in 2020 in the month of November. The accusations included one count of being an accessory after the fact to a murder as well as three counts of making false statements or representations.
Private Aaron Robinson, the suspect in the killing of the 20-year-old soldier, was in a relationship with Aguilar. Robinson fatally shot himself as law enforcement officers approached him with the intention of arresting him in connection with the crime.
It was discovered during Aguilar’s trial that Robinson was present at the military facility formerly known as Fort Cavazos on the day that Guillén was murdered. The site has since been renamed Fort Cavazos. There was blood in the weapons storage room, which indicates that this is most likely the location where Guillén was killed.
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Mayra Guillén, Vanessa’s older sister, said on social media that she was overjoyed that Aguilar was found guilty and sentenced to jail, saying, “You received justice today.”
During the sentencing hearing for Aguilar, witnesses said that Robinson was motivated to dismember Guillén’s body after viewing the NBC crime drama series “Criminal Minds,” which is shown in Temple, Texas on KCEN-TV, which is the local affiliate of NBC. According to the testimony provided by witnesses, Aguilar and Robinson went back to the location where they buried Guillén’s remains not once, but twice: the first time, to dismember the body, and the second time, to mix the bones with cement. According to Aguilar, it took almost seven hours for Guillén’s bones to totally disintegrate after being exposed to the acid.
A news conference was held outside the courthouse in Waco where Aguilar was sentenced. Speakers at the press conference included relatives of the Guillén family as well as friends of the family.
The defendant’s mother, Gloria Guillén, made a statement at the sentencing hearing, and she later claimed that she “touched the judge’s heart” with her words. Gloria Guillén spoke out about the anguish that her family went through following the death of her daughter in her speech.
Gloria Guillén stated of Aguilar in Spanish, “I hope God forgives her and that she repents,” and she hoped that God would pardon her.
According to the testimony provided by Mayra Guillén, Aguilar conveyed his sorrow to the family. Mayra Guillén said something to the effect of “nothing will ever bring back my sister.”
Mayra Guillén made these comments to the press in Spanish: “After three years, it would not be so easy to forgive someone who caused us to suffer so much.”
Guillén was reported missing from Fort Hood on April 22nd, 2020. Protests in front of the institution and a social media campaign with the hashtag #FindVanessaGuillén were quickly organized by friends and family members of Vanessa Guillén who are concerned about her whereabouts.
When Vanessa Guillén’s dismembered remains were found more than two months after the first call to “Find Vanessa Guillén,” the hashtag was quickly changed to “Justice for Vanessa Guillén.”
Fort Hood has one of the highest rates of homicide, sexual assault, and harassment in the Army. Shortly after Guillén went missing, her family reported that the deceased soldier had told relatives and colleagues that she had been sexually assaulted at Fort Hood. Fort Hood has one of the highest rates of homicide, sexual assault, and harassment in the Army.
Posthumously, an Army investigation corroborated Guillén’s charges, which resulted to the dismissal of 14 Fort Hood officers and the implementation of various military policy improvements, including as new protocols for managing incidents of sexual harassment and the extension of the Army’s “missing soldier” protocol. Guillén’s death was the catalyst for the inquiry, which was conducted after his death.
The I Am Vanessa Guillén Act, which was passed into law in December 2021, included several provisions, including criminalizing sexual harassment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, enhancing the response of certain officials to sex-related offenses through independent investigations, and removing the decision to prosecute sexual misconduct cases from the chains of command of service members. All of these provisions were included in the legislation.
The Mexican American family’s determination to get answers regarding Guillén’s death coincided with an increase in the number of women and people of color entering the military forces.
Guillén’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Department of Defense earlier this year, seeking $35 million in damages for their father’s premature passing. Natalie Khawam, an attorney representing the family, said on Monday that a date for the trial would be set in federal court within the next several weeks.
The Guillén family is the subject of the Netflix documentary “I Am Vanessa Guillén,” which is nominated for an Emmy and will make its debut in 2022.
