And he was around us, too. Aaron David Robinson, who officials say killed himself July 1, was accused of beating Guillen to death with a hammer while they worked together in an armory room the Watch the Guillen familys news conference below, courtesy of CBS Dallas-Fort Worth. She attended her first Army training in June 2018 and was later stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, making the three hour drive back to Houston every weekend to see her family. Military investigators said Guillen was bludgeoned with a hammer. The two concocted a story about Aguilar and Robinson taking a long drive to a park in Belton, Texas, as an alibi, the complaint alleged. permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com. "The murderer sexually harassed her and then killed her," the Whistleblower Law Firm attorney, told Military.com in a statement. Hightower said that at around 10 p.m., he found out that the last person she'd worked with in the arms room was Spc. ", He added that the Army cannot release his name "for the matter of privacy" and is "part of the investigation and the process.". I see her murals and I say to myself, 'Damn, this is reality. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, an Iraq War veteran, is the Democratic lead sponsor. Guillen's loved ones say she had always been a fitness fanatic. Slain Fort Hood soldier was sexually harassed, but not by She says she has only heard from President Trump.#JusticeForVanessaGuillen pic.twitter.com/rEr9XFA2mB. A criminal complaint filed against Aguilar accuses her of tampering with evidence, including Guillens body, on April 23 and 26 to impair its integrity and availability for use in an official proceeding., Though the family believes Robinson killed Guillenand the allegations that Aguilar helped bury her remains, Khawam said, the story of how Robinson killed Guillen, moved her body and cleaned up the crime scene all while on a military post without an accomplice or being found out sooner does not make sense.. The post straddles Bell and Coryell counties across 340 square miles of arid scrubland. Army Criminal Investigation Command investigators sat down with the Guillen family the day of Robinsons death and told them the 20-year-old soldier killed Guillen because she had seen a photo of Aguilar on his phone, recognized her as a woman married to another Fort Hood soldierand threatened to report his affair, according to Khawam. Vanessa Guillen suffered mental anguish, fear, emotional distress, physical injury, and death as a result of sexual harassment, rape, sodomy, and physical assault., Nothing is going to bring her back, Vanessas sisterMayra Guillen said, according to KHOU. And it's like we could have did something, but we didn't know.". To order copies of Morales, a 24-year-old who also used the last name Wedel before his marriage, was last heard from on Aug. 20, 2019. Company, 3rd Cavalry Regiment at the time Guillen, a fellow 3rd Cavalry soldier, disappeared April 22. Copyright 2023 ABC News Internet Ventures. My thoughts and prayers are with Vanessas family and all of her loved ones, and our focus is turned to supporting her family and honoring her legacy. Efflandt on Thursday added that he personally invited a team to the post earlier in the week to inspect its Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program, or SHARP. Aguilar was charged later in the afternoon with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. He joined the Army in October 2017, training as a 12B, Combat Engineer. That's [what] we want to have that answered as well. The two worked together to burn the body, dismember it, mix the parts with concrete and bury the remains in three holes, the filing added. Later that night, Army investigators questioned Aguilar, they say she admitted that Robinson had told her he killed Vanessa Guillen and that she saw her remains in the tough box that he had carted out of the arms room, where he told her he killed Guillen. On May 18, nearly a month after Vanessa Guillen's disappearance, investigators spoke to two witnesses who said they saw Robinson exiting the arms room on April 22 with McCarthy on July 10 announced after meeting with Democrat Rep. Sylvia Garcia (TX) and the activist group League of United Latin American Citizens that he has directed an independent, comprehensive reviewof the command climate and culture at Fort Hood, as well as the surrounding military community.. Khawam said that if Guillendenied Robinsons advances in the armory room April 22, it could have led to her death. The Guillens pleas for help spread nationally after #IAmVanessaGuillen went viral on social media this month. Khawam said the family told her that Guillen had planned to file a harassment complaint against Robinson the day after she was killed, and A Fort Hood soldier who authorities identified earlier Thursday as another suspect in Guillen's disappearance, E-4 Specialist Aaron David Robinson, allegedly told Aguilar that he killed a female soldier after hitting her in the head with a hammer, according to officials. Im her family! Then they dismembered this beautiful U.S. soldiers body with a machete. "We told them who to investigate from the beginning, and that's not what happened. She said Army investigators rarely contacted the family before releasing information. And she said no. "I knew something was wrong because I'd check her social media," Cruz said. But it wasn't too much I can do.". Mayra Guillen said last week that much of what the family learned about her younger sisters disappearance was through media reports and news conferences. Gloria Guillen said she saw her daughters health progressively deteriorate over the months leading up to her disappearance, saying her normally muscular and vibrant daughter became thin and reserved. The Calumet City native entered the Army in October 2017 and was a combat engineer. Aaron David Robinson was a 20-year-old U.S. Army soldier who trained as a 12B, Combat Engineer. Guillen went there to confirm serial numbers for weapons. And they were just trying to see my reaction.". U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., will introduce legislation on the House floor next week. She taught me many things because she was always tender, she was loving to me and we always loved each other. "Memories never die," he said. "We need to know exactly what went on in that arms room. Sheconfided to her family that it was Robinson. And she would always beat me.". Robinson and his girlfriend allegedly tried to destroy and conceal Guillens body, according to the attorney. She added that McCarthy has scheduled a press conference for Thursday with media at Fort Hood, Texas, but has not even contacted the Guilln family to let them know it was happening. Born and raised in Houston to immigrants from Mexico, Guillen was one of six children. "It just seems like a nightmare when I drive through Houston. On June 18, two months after Vanessa Guillen vanished, authorities found skeletal remains close to the base in Killeen. Robinson, 20, also allegedly enlisted Aguilar who recognized Guillen to help him get rid of her body at a remote site in Bell County, near Fort Hood. Damon Phelps of the CID, the Army's primary criminal investigative organization, told reporters that Aguilar is the estranged wife of a former Fort Hood soldier. Because she is a civilian in the custody of local authorities, Army CID will not be releasing any further information concerning her or her status at this time, Phelps said, adding that no organization had yet been assigned to the womans case nor was anyone given the authority to release her name. Vanessa Guillen, who has been missing from the Texas post since April. "I didn't force her to do anything she didn't wanna do. The criminal case against Aguilar is ongoing. Robinson harassed her.". Cecily Aguilar, 22, of Killeen, faces one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence in the April 22 disappearance of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen, federal prosecutors in Texas' western district said in a statement. After police issued a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) alert for Robinson in July, Robinson fled and killed himself as police approached.Police arrested his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, who told police that Robinson had killed Guilln with a hammer in an armory room on base and enlisted her help to bury her body in April. "This gruesome murder should never have happened.". I just suggested to her, I was like, 'I can talk to this individual for you, or, you know, see what route we can take about this.' to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about (Steve Gonzales/Houston Chronicle via AP). "When Houston went on lockdown [for COVID-19], she was really frustrated because the gyms were closed. ", Maj. Gen. Gene LeBoeuf, Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army Forces Command, however, insisted that "Specialist Robinson was a person of interest early on in the investigation. The announcement comes a day after Natalie Khawam, attorney for the Guillen family, said they believe that the remains found in Bell County are Guillen's. Investigators suspect a fellow soldier, Spc. She said she hoped publicizing such questions would push the Army to answer the familys pleas for transparency. U.S. army officials on Thursday would not say whether Robinson and the woman knew each other, citing an ongoing investigation. Investigators discovered human remains which had been buried and covered in concrete. Every single step!. Army investigators have said theres no evidence Robinson harassed her. She never did anything to anybody to deserve what happened to her at all.". The family held protests outside the post in Killeen and inHouston and Washington, demanding answers because they said they were consistently left in the dark. "The way that he knew that it was Vanessa was because he described her hair to me. And that's exactly what the criminal investigation is about," LaBoeuf said. While Guillens family and their attorney, Natalie Khawam, say the remains found near the river are likely that of the missing soldier, U.S. army officials at Fort Hood on Thursday said the remains had yet to be identified. Cruz saw the woman he planned to marry for the last time on April 19, 2020, three days before she went missing. We've received your submission. She's no longer here.' It is claimed that he did so after she found out he was having an affair with a married woman, Cecily Aguilar, when she saw a picture of the woman on his phone. A review of the call logs showed Robinson contacted Aguilar multiple times on the night Guillen disappeared. The Guillens said they struggle to believe what Army investigators say. Phelps said the Army has no credible information or reports that Guillen was sexually assaulted. He told investigators that he and Guillen exchanged paperwork for a .50 caliber machine gun that needed to be serviced and she left the arms room. About two hours later, In the middle of a street, authorities converged on Robinson, who pulled out a gun and shot himself dead. The Law Did Not Treat Them Kindly. Im troubled by his lack of compassion to the family and sincerity about meeting with the family, she said. At a news conference Thursday, the Army identified the soldier suspected in Guillens disappearance as Aaron David Robinson. He was originally from Calumet City, Illinois. The Austin American-Statesman and USA TODAY attempted over a two-week period to speak with investigators from the Army, the FBI and Killeen police to verify Khawam and the Guillen familys accounts of what took placebut did not receive a response or were told no comment.. Landy said he knew word had gotten out about Vanessa Guillen's disappearance when he saw the military police at Fort Hood the next morning. Newspapers Limited, 8 Spadina Avenue, 10th Floor, Toronto, ON M5V 0S8. Aguilar, at the request of law enforcement, placed a controlled telephone call to Robinson wherein he never denied anything they did to Guillen and her body, the complaint reads. Anyone can read Conversations, but to contribute, you should be a registered Torstar account holder. "I went to her room and her roommate answered the door," he said. Why? "However, all sexual harassment allegations are being investigated, as they are in every other instance.". A lot of silence. "After subsequent investigation, another allegation of verbal harassment involving the same individual was discovered. The League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation's oldest Latino civil rights organization that has been helping the Guillen family, added an additional $25,000 to the reward the following day. "We got harassed. We went to the motor pool [to] see if maybe she got locked in.". Then, he raced out of the room. HOUSTON -- Vanessa Guillen will forever be 20 years old, engaged but will never be married. "[Robinson] was like, 'Oh, I kept it professional; didn't say too much to her.' And that's probably what happened to her.' Robinson, who fled his post at Fort Hood Tuesday, shot and killed himself as officers moved in to arrest him late Tuesday night in Killeen, Texas, according to officials. I prayed to God so much, Gloria said. It is unclear whether the person who harassed Guillen will be prosecuted at this time. Tim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital. Landy said it was frustrating that investigators were seemingly not suspicious of Robinson. army officials at Fort Hood on Thursday identified the soldier who killed himself this week after he was questioned about his possible involvement in the disappearance of Spc.
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