Suspected accomplice in Vanessa Guillen case pleads not guilty, denied bail
The woman accused of helping her lover dismember Pfc. Vanessa Guillen’s body pleaded not guilty to those charges in federal court Tuesday.
Cecily Aguilar, a 22-year-old civilian, was also denied bail, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Aguilar is accused of helping her boyfriend, U.S. Army Spec. Aaron Robinson, cut up Guillen’s body. Robinson was suspected of beating Guillen to death with a hammer on April 22 at Ford Hood, but he died by suicide as officers moved to arrest him July 1.
Prosecutors argued Aguilar was a flight risk because she’d discussed leaving the country using a $5,000 credit card, according to local NBC affiliate KCEN. That was good enough for the judge, who didn’t schedule Aguilar’s next court appearance.
Aguilar faces three counts of tampering with evidence, the American-Statesman reported. A federal indictment says Aguilar and Robinson teamed up to dismember and dispose of Guillen’s body in the days after Robinson killed her.
Aguilar was supported in court by her estranged husband, Keon Aguilar, according to the American-Statesman.
Guillen, 20, had been missing since April 22 until the Army identified her remains July 5. Shortly before she was killed, Guillen reported being sexually assaulted by an unidentified sergeant.
The Army has said its found no evidence of sexual harassment by a sergeant, by her alleged killer Robinson or by anyone else. Guillen’s family has staunchly disagreed with the Army’s investigations.
“She felt if she spoke, something would happen,” Vanessa’s sister Mayra Guillén told The Washington Post. “I now realize everything leads back to them harassing her at work.”
Both activists and the Guillen family’s attorney have called for Aguilar to face heftier charges, though each evidence tampering charge comes with a maximum 20-year sentence.
“She did exactly how ISIS would treat one of our soldiers,” Natalie Khawam, the attorney, told KCEN. “They decapitate our soldiers. They dismember them. They light them on fire. She did exactly that to Vanessa.”
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