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Private Vanessa Guillén was beaten to death at an Army military base, says a family lawyer

2020-07-03T20:31:13.847Z


Authorities are investigating the death of a soldier at Fort Hood. The victim's family says she was beaten at an Army military base. The suspect committed suicide, authorities said.…


(CNN) - Professional soldier Vanessa Guillén was beaten to death with a hammer in the weapons room where she worked, at the Fort Hodd base, a lawyer from the Guillén family said Thursday.

Guillén's body was transported from the military facility by his killer, attorney Natalie Khawam told CNN, citing details the family learned during a meeting with Army investigators on Wednesday night.

The main suspect in the disappearance was identified, this Thursday, by authorities as Aaron David Robinson, a soldier with the rank of specialist.

Khawam said the family told her that Guillén had planned to file a harassment complaint against Robinson the day after she was killed, and that they believe Robinson was furious when she told him that.

Fort Hood officials said they were not aware of reports of sexual harassment involving Robinson, but the investigation was ongoing.

Robinson, 20, committed suicide on Wednesday after police confronted him in Killeen, according to the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, known as CID. Robinson fled Fort Hood on Tuesday night.

"While law enforcement agencies tried to contact the suspect in Killeen, Texas, Specialist Robinson showed a gun and killed himself," said IDC Senior Special Agent Damon Phelps on Thursday, at a press conference.

Robinson and Guillén were co-workers, but they were located in different buildings; he was not on his command line, Phelps said.

Robinson "was not in CID custody" when he fled the facility.

Phelps said investigators were investigating Robinson's interactions with Guillén. He said that "there was no credible information" that Guillén had been sexually harassed or assaulted. He said investigators had conducted more than 300 interviews in the case.

David Robinson, a suspect in the disappearance of Vanessa Guillen, committed suicide. (Credit: Christopher J. Haug Sr. III Corps and Fort Hood Public Affairs)

Robinson, from Illinois, entered the Army in October 2017.

Khawam said investigators told the family that Robinson called a woman he was involved with to help him dispose of Guillén's body after removing him from the base.

The Texas Rangers also arrested a civilian suspect in connection with Guillén's disappearance, according to CID.

The suspect has been identified as Cecily Anne Aguilar, the estranged wife of a former Fort Hood soldier. She is in the Bell County jail waiting for civil authorities to press charges, the CID said.

Cecily Aguilar, suspect in the disappearance of Vanessa Guillen.

Guillén, 20, was last seen in the parking lot of his headquarters at the Texas Army base on April 22, CID said.

High-ranking members of the CID Command met with Guillén's family on Wednesday, Phelps said.

Before Guillén went missing, he told his family that he was being sexually harassed by one of his sergeants at Fort Hood, according to a website his family created to promote the search. The sergeant was not identified.

Confront the suspect

Early Wednesday morning, the U.S. Marshals, the Killeen Police and the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force located the soldier suspected of Guillén's disappearance, the CID said. He had left his post at Fort Hood. The authorities confronted him walking along a commercial and residential highway, on the northeast side of the city, a few kilometers from the base.

"When officers attempted to contact the suspect, the suspect displayed a weapon and shot himself. The suspect succumbed to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, ”the Killeen Police Department said in a press release.

Guillén's sister Mayra said Wednesday that she had met the soldier suspected of her sister's disappearance.

“When I first went to that base, that guy, I met him, not knowing that he had something to do with it. I felt that something told me that it did something, and apparently I was not wrong, "said Mayra Guillén. “And apparently now, she commits suicide. Why? I do not know".

"But whoever is responsible has to pay, and we demand an investigation by Congress," he added.

This occurred just hours after investigators discovered Tuesday the partial remains of a body near the Leon River in rural Bell County, where Killeen is located.

Although authorities have not confirmed it, Guillén's family believes the remains belong to their missing loved one, they said at a press conference.

Phelps said the remains have not been positively identified. The investigation into Guillén's disappearance is separate from another with her family's claim that she was sexually harassed.

The remains were found in a shallow grave, and search operations were suspended, pending identification, said Tim Miller, director and founder of Texas EquuSearch.

Due to her time in the service, Guillén was promoted to specialist on Wednesday, according to the Fort Hood website.

They find another dead soldier

Authorities discovered the remains some 40 kilometers from the site where, on June 19, investigators found the body of second-class soldier Gregory Wedel-Morales, who disappeared last year while driving in Killeen.

He was scheduled to be discharged a few days after his disappearance, the Army said.

It is not clear if there is a connection between Guillén and Wedel-Morales, but Army investigators say "there is no credible information" linking the cases.

There is also suspicion of something dirty in Wedel-Morales' death, and the Army is offering a $ 25,000 reward for information. The Army, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and Houston rapper Baby Bash have collected a $ 55,000 reward for information about Guillén's disappearance.

After Guillén went missing in April, his car keys, room key, ID card, and wallet were found in a weapons room where he was working that day.

"Our hearts are broken. We feel pain, frustration and devastation. This should not have happened. We demand an investigation by Congress. We demand the truth, ”Khawam said in a statement.

“If this can happen to Vanessa, it can happen to any of our sisters, daughters and mothers. There is no reason why a beautiful young woman who joined the Army, to serve our country honorably, should be in a shallow grave near our own territory. "

- Mallika Kallingal, Eliott C McLaughlin, Nicole Chavez and Raja Razek contributed to this report.

Sexual AbuseCrimeUS Army

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-07-03

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