Vanessa Guillen

The murder of Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old United States Army soldier, took place inside an armory at Fort Hood, Texas, on April22, 2020, when she was bludgeoned to death by another soldier, Aaron David Robinson.

Guillén had been missing for over two months when some of her dismembered remains were found buried along the Leon River on June30.

Upon hearing about the discovery, Robinson fled Fort Hood and fatally shot himself when law enforcement attempted to apprehend him in nearby Killeen, Texas.

Cecily Aguilar, a local woman identified by authorities as Robinson's girlfriend, was taken into custody and is alleged to have assisted him in dismembering and burying Guillén's body.

On July2, 2020, Aguilar was charged with one federal count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

On July13, 2021, she was indicted on eleven counts by a federal grand jury.

On November 29, 2022 Aguilar pleaded guilty to accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of making a false statement.

On August 14, 2023, Aguilar was sentenced to the maximum of 30 years for her role in covering up the murder of Guillén.

Guillén was stationed at Fort Hood, a U.S. Army installation in Bell County, Texas, which is approximately 340 sqmi in size and home to III Corps and the First Cavalry Division.

She was last seen around 1:00 p.m. on April22, 2020, in the parking lot of her unit, the Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (3CR).

Her car keys, identification card, bank card, and barracks key were found inside the armory where she worked.

Guillén's family felt she disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

The case was investigated under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) with local law enforcement agencies in Bell County, Killeen, and Belton; the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; the United States Marshals Service; and the Texas Ranger Division in support.

Multiple Fort Hood units, including 3CR, began searching the area within two weeks of her disappearance.

Before Guillén went missing, she had told her family that she was being sexually harassed by an unnamed sergeant at Fort Hood, and that complaints by other female soldiers made against the sergeant had been dismissed.

Guillén's mother advised her to report the matter, but she responded that "she could put a stop to it herself" out of fear that her mother would be harmed for making a report.

In early June, Guillén's mother told reporters she did not trust the Army's handling of the investigation and her attorney, Natalie Khawam, said she believed the family was "being kept in the dark" because few details had been released regarding the disappearance.

On June13, 2020, hundreds of people assembled at the gates of Fort Hood to protest what organizers felt was a lack of information on the case.

CID reported that they found no evidence that Guillén was assaulted, but said investigators believed foul play was involved in her disappearance.

On June17, the League of United Latin American Citizens added a $25,000 reward to the existing $25,000 reward announced by the Army for finding Guillén.

On June 23, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, in whose district Guillén's family resides, met with Fort Hood officials to discuss the ongoing search.

The authorities said that more than 300 interviews and over 10,000 hours were spent investigating Guillén's disappearance.

On July 27, 2020, Guillén's mother, who had previously been detained for illegal immigration, was granted parole in place by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the assistance of Garcia and immigration attorney Luis Gomez Alfaro.

On June30, 2020, Army investigators were called in when contractors discovered partial human remains along the Leon River in Belton.

The area had previously been searched by Texas Rangers, detectives, and cadaver dogs on June20 after a burn mound was discovered nearby.

Investigators theorized that the remains, previously buried under concrete, had been dug up by wildlife.

Tim Miller, Director of Texas EquuSearch, stated that it was the most sophisticated burial site he had ever seen.

Later that evening, at around 8:30p.m., authorities re-interviewed Cecily Anne Aguilar, a local woman who was the estranged wife of a soldier at Fort Hood.

Aguilar was reported to be the girlfriend of Aaron David Robinson, a specialist-ranked enlisted soldier who was one of the last people known to have seen Guillén on the day of her disappearance, and who had previously been interviewed by investigators.

Aguilar told police that Robinson had confessed to her that he had killed a female soldier at Fort Hood.

At the request of law enforcement, Aguilar placed a controlled telephone call to Robinson, who said, "Baby, they found pieces", and texted Robinson multiple news articles, in response to which he never denied anything.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the Western District Court of Texas, Aguilar allegedly helped Robinson dismember and dispose of Guillén's body on April22, 2020, after Robinson told her he had bludgeoned Guillén to death with a hammer inside the armory.

On the evening of June30, Robinson escaped the custody of an unarmed guard from his unit and fled Fort Hood after hearing the news of the discovery of remains.

He had been detained by his unit at the request of a CID agent under the pretense of violating COVID-19 quarantine rules.

In the early hours of July1, Killeen police located and attempted to make contact with Robinson, who produced a handgun and killed himself before he could be taken into custody.

Aguilar was arrested by Texas Rangers and held at the Bell County Jail.

On July2, Bell County officials stated Aguilar would be transferred to federal custody due to being charged with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence by the United States Attorney's Office Western District of Texas.

Assistant United States Attorneys Mark Frazier and Greg Gloff are prosecuting the case on behalf of the federal government.

On May 24, 2022 the Texas Department of Public Safety released a report stating that "Aguilar later explained why Robinson killed Guillén, saying Guillén saw Robinson's cellphone lock screen, which contained a picture of Aguilar. (Robinson) told her he was worried about getting in trouble for violating the Army's fraternization rules since Aguilar was still married to another soldier and he hit Guillén in the head with a hammer."

A mural in honor of Guillén was created in her hometown of Houston by a local artist.