Killing of Vanessa Guillén


Vanessa Guillén was a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier who authorities believe was killed on April 22, 2020, inside a Fort Hood, Texas, armory by another enlisted soldier, Aaron David Robinson, age 20. Guillén had been missing since April 22 until dismembered pieces of her remains were found buried along the Leon River on June 30. Upon hearing about the discovery of the remains, Robinson fled Fort Hood and fatally shot himself shortly after midnight when law enforcement attempted to apprehend him in Killeen, Texas.
A local area woman who authorities said was Robinson's girlfriend was taken into custody and is alleged to have assisted Robinson in disposing of Guillén's body. On July 2, she was charged with one federal count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. On July 10, 2020, the U.S. Secretary of the Army Ryan D. McCarthy announced that he would order a "full independent review" of Guillén’s case.

Persons involved

Guillén was last seen around 1:00 p.m. on April 22, 2020, in the parking lot of her unit, the Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. Fort Hood is a U.S. Army post approximately in size and home to III Corps and the First Cavalry Division. Guillen's car keys, identification card, bank card, and barracks key were found inside the armory where she worked. Her family felt Guillén disappeared under suspicious circumstances. The case was investigated under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and the Federal Bureau of Investigation with Bell County Sheriff's Office, Killeen Police Department, Belton Police Department, Texas Parks and Wildlife, the United States Marshal Service, and the Texas Rangers in support. Multiple Fort Hood units, including 3CR, began searching 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 him had been dismissed. Her mother advised her to report him, but Guillén 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, her mother told reporters she did not trust the U.S. 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 Guillén's disappearance. On June 13, 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 June 17, the League of United Latin American Citizens added a $25,000 reward to the existing $25,000 reward announced by the U.S. Army for finding Guillén. On June 23, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia, in whose district the Guillén family resides, met with Fort Hood officials to discuss the ongoing search for Guillén. The authorities said that more than 300 interviews and over 10,000 hours were spent investigating Gullién's disappearance.
On June 30, 2020, Army Investigators were called when contractors discovered partial human remains near the base. The area had previously been searched by Texas Rangers, detectives, and cadaver dogs on June 20 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, authorities reinterviewed Cecily Anne Aguilar, a local area woman who was the estranged wife of a soldier at Fort Hood. Aguilar was reported to be the girlfriend of Aaron David Robinson, a junior enlisted soldier who had contact with Guillén on the day of her disappearance and had previously been interviewed by authorities in the case. Aguilar told police that Robinson told her about killing a female soldier on Fort Hood. At the request of law enforcement, Aguilar placed a controlled telephone call to Robinson, who said "baby they found pieces" and texted Aguilar multiple news articles. According to a criminal complaint filed in the Western District Court of Texas, Aguilar allegedly helped Robinson dispose of Guillén's body on April 22, 2020, after Robinson told her he had bludgeoned Guillén to death with a hammer inside the Armory in which he worked. Early on July 1, Killeen police 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 July 2, 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 United States Government.

Timeline

Donkeeboy created a mural in honor of Guillén as they were from the same neighborhood. The moral portrays her with the flags of both the United States and Mexico, the latter due to her Mexican American ethnicity. There is another mural dedicated to her at Taqueria del Sol in the Park Place neighborhood.