According to authorities, a Texas woman who assisted in dismembering and hiding the remains of Vanessa Guillén, a soldier from Fort Hood, entered a guilty plea to federal charges on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the Western Texas U.S. Attorney’s Office, Cecily Aguilar, 24, lied to detectives and assisted the person who killed Guillén in disposing of her body.
Guillén, a 20-year-old Army specialist, was last seen alive on April 22, 2020, at Fort Hood, Texas. Her dismembered body parts were discovered about two months later.
Spc. Aaron Robinson, the soldier thought to have killed Guillén, shot himself to death as police tried to take him into custody. Aguilar was Robinson’s girlfriend, according to the authorities.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office, Aguilar entered a guilty plea on Tuesday to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of making false statements or representations.
Aguilar could receive a sentence of up to 30 years in prison if found guilty, but the judge will take into account federal sentencing guidelines, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. There is no defined time for a sentence.
She allegedly lied to detectives in addition to aiding Robinson in destroying and concealing the remains.
The relatives of Guillén claimed they were shocked by Aguilar’s choice to enter a guilty plea. In July 2020, Aguilar was detained for the first time on a federal charge.
Mayra Guillén, Guillén’s older sister, told reporters outside court, “So many motions that she’s filed in the past, for her to come and plead guilty now, it takes us completely by surprise,”
Guillén’s murder and the subsequent discoveries that her supervisor had harassed her sexually while the leadership of the unit did nothing to stop it sparked law changes to assist and safeguard military sexual assault victims.
A number of changes were made as a result of the I Am Vanessa Guillén Act’s main provisions, such as establishing sexual harassment as a separate crime under the military code and transferring prosecution decisions to the office of the chief prosecutor.
The National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed into law in December, included them.
