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What to Know About the Death of Vanessa Guillen

Specialist Guillen was reported missing from Fort Hood in April 2020, and her remains were found on June 30, 2020. Her case inspired protests and led the Army to discipline more than a dozen officials.

A makeshift memorial for U.S. Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen at Power House Gym in Houston in August 2020.Credit...Mark Felix/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The discovery in 2020 of the dismembered and burned remains of Vanessa Guillen, a Fort Hood soldier who disappeared on April 22, 2020, sparked outrage from central Texas to Washington.

Specialist Guillen’s case captured the attention of celebrities, lawmakers and other public figures including former President Trump, who met with her family at The White House. The case also drew particular outrage from women in the military and Latinos.

Interest in the case has been recently rekindled by the Netflix documentary “I Am Vanessa Guillen,” released on Nov. 17, which examines her life and death and follows her family’s journey for justice. A woman who was the only person charged in the 2020 killing pleaded guilty on Tuesday to four counts including accessory to murder after the fact.

Specialist Guillen’s family has raised allegations that she had been sexually harassed before she was killed.

Activists called for systematic changes in how the military handles reports of sexual harassment and assault. In December 2020, the Army found “major flaws” in the culture at Fort Hood and disciplined more than a dozen officials.

Here is what we know about the case.

Specialist Guillen was born and raised in Houston with five siblings. Her mother, Gloria Guillen, said she had an interest in the military since childhood, when she would play with her brother’s toy pistol. Despite her mother’s reservations, she decided to enlist at 18.

Athletic, she lifted weights, played soccer, and ran on track and cross-country teams.

Specialist Guillen’s mother said she had enjoyed attending church with her daughter. A memorial at her home was surrounded by angels and figures of the Virgin Mary, which Specialist Guillen wore on a gold necklace that she never removed.

Prosecutors announced a charge in the case on July 2, 2020, detailing accusations that Specialist Guillen was killed by another soldier who then tried to dispose of her remains.

In a federal complaint, the accused soldier was identified as U.S. Army Specialist Aaron Robinson, 20. A few days before the charge was announced, Specialist Robinson killed himself with a pistol.

The authorities also arrested his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, in Killeen, Texas. Justice Department officials said in court documents that Specialist Robinson told Ms. Aguilar that he repeatedly struck Specialist Guillen on the head with a hammer, killing her, and hid her body in a large box. The couple then tried to dismember and burn the remains, according to the complaint.

Ms. Aguilar pleaded guilty on Nov. 29 to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of false statement or representation. She faces a maximum possible penalty of 30 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $1 million fine, prosecutors said.

Specialist Guillen was last seen around noon on April 22, 2020, in the parking lot of her squadron’s headquarters at Fort Hood. Investigators who searched her phone found that the last person she texted was Specialist Robinson.

Specialist Robinson worked in a building at Fort Hood that was adjacent to where Specialist Guillen worked, according to Special Agent Damon Phelps of the Criminal Investigation Command.

A witness told investigators that Specialist Guillen left the arms room where she had been working and went to the arms room controlled by Specialist Robinson to confirm serial numbers for weapons and equipment, the complaint said.

Specialist Robinson later said he read her the serial numbers and gave her paperwork, according to court documents. He said he believed she then left to go to the motor pool.

Two witnesses later said that on the same day, they saw Specialist Robinson coming out of the arms room, pulling a large “tough box” with wheels “that appeared very heavy in weight,” according to the complaint.

Specialist Guillen was reported missing on April 23, 2020. On April 24, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command posted a news release asking for the public’s help in finding her. Thousands of soldiers searched in buildings, barracks, fields, training areas, lakes and trails at Fort Hood.

On June 30, 2020, human remains were found near the Leon River in Bell County, Texas. On July 3, the Army confirmed that the remains were Specialist Guillen’s.

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Missing Fort Hood Soldier’s Remains May Have Been Found

Natalie Khawam, a lawyer for the family of Specialist Vanessa Guillen, said in early July that her remains had most likely been found and that a suspect in her disappearance had killed himself.

“As you know, there has been a lot of updates since we last spoke. We believe that her remains were found. We believe that the suspect had killed himself in the morning, and that unfortunately doesn’t provide us much information about how this happened, why this happened. And we believe that the person that killed her is that person that sexually harassed her, the one that walked into the shower. So, you know, this, again, shouldn’t have happened. And now she’s not with us.” “Just say the hashtag, #IamVanessaGuillen. All those men and women in our service suffering from sexual harassment, suffering from sexual assault — because they report it — yet they take it as a joke. My sister’s no joke. My sister’s a human being. And I want justice, and I want answers.”

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Natalie Khawam, a lawyer for the family of Specialist Vanessa Guillen, said in early July that her remains had most likely been found and that a suspect in her disappearance had killed himself.

When Specialist Guillen disappeared, Ms. Aguilar, 22 at the time, was living with Specialist Robinson, according to the complaint. She pleaded guilty in November and faces a maximum possible penalty of 30 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $1 million fine.

“According to court documents, from April 22, 2020 through July 1, 2020, Aguilar assisted Army Specialist Aaron Robinson in corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating and concealing evidence — that is, the body of Vanessa Guillen — in order to prevent Robinson from being charged with and prosecuted for any crime,” said a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

Prosecutors said in court documents that she initially lied to investigators about what she knew but on June 30 confessed to playing a role in the disposal of Specialist Guillen’s body.

Ms. Aguilar told investigators that Specialist Robinson had picked her up late on April 22 or early on April 23 at the gas station where she worked.

Ms. Aguilar said she helped Specialist Robinson dismember the body with an ax or hatchet and a machete-style knife, according to the complaint. The couple buried the remains near the Leon River, it said.

Army leaders have declined to discuss possible motives for the killing.

For months, activists, politicians and Specialist Guillen’s family called for an investigation into Fort Hood, the nation’s third-largest Army base. On July 10, 2020, Ryan D. McCarthy, the secretary of the Army, ordered an investigation into Fort Hood’s command culture after a year of violent deaths, suicides and complaints of sexual harassment on the military base.

As a result of the report on investigation’s findings, released on Dec. 8, 2020, 14 Army officials at Fort Hood were either fired or suspended, including several high-ranking leaders. The investigation found “major flaws” at Fort Hood and a command climate “that was permissive of sexual harassment and sexual assault,” said Mr. McCarthy.

Army investigators detained Specialist Robinson in the killing of Specialist Guillen just hours after her remains were found, but a series of missteps allowed him to flee, then fatally shoot himself, according to an Army report released on April 30, 2021.

Among the report’s findings: Specialist Guillen was sexually harassed, but not by Specialist Robinson, and that he had also been accused of unrelated sexual harassment. The report found that a breakdown in communication between his unit and criminal investigation agents allowed him to escape.

In August of this year, Natalie Khawam, a lawyer for the Guillen family, filed a $35 million lawsuit against the United States Army for sexual assault and the wrongful death of Specialist Guillen, Ms. Khawam said.

April Rubin, Michael Levenson, Bryan Pietsch and Christopher Mele contributed reporting.

Johnny Diaz is a general assignment reporter covering breaking news. He previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel and The Boston Globe. More about Johnny Diaz

Maria Cramer is a reporter on the Travel desk. Please send her tips, questions and complaints about traveling, especially on cruises. More about Maria Cramer

Christina Morales is a reporter covering news on food and culture. She joined The Times in 2020 as a member of the newsroom's second fellowship class. More about Christina Morales

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