A Texas lady who helped mutilate and conceal the physique of Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillén pleaded responsible to federal expenses Tuesday, prosecutors mentioned.
Cecily Aguilar, 24, helped the person who killed Guillén eliminate her physique and lied to investigators, the U.S. lawyer’s workplace for Western Texas mentioned in a press release.
Guillén, 20, an Military specialist, was final seen alive at Fort Hood, Texas, on April 22, 2020, and her dismembered stays have been discovered round two months later.
The soldier who was suspected of killing Guillén, Spc. Aaron Robinson, fatally shot himself as police moved to arrest him. Authorities have mentioned Aguilar was Robinson’s girlfriend.
Aguilar pleaded responsible Tuesday to a rely of accent to homicide after the very fact and three counts of false assertion or illustration, the U.S. lawyer’s workplace mentioned.
If she is convicted, Aguilar faces as much as 30 years in jail, however a decide will think about federal sentencing pointers, the U.S. lawyer’s workplace mentioned. A sentencing date has not been set.
Prosecutors mentioned that along with serving to Robinson destroy and conceal the stays, she lied to investigators.
Guillén’s household mentioned they have been greatly surprised by Aguilar’s choice to plead responsible. Aguilar was first arrested on a federal cost in July 2020.
“So many motions that she’s filed previously, for her to return and plead responsible now, it takes us utterly unexpectedly,” Mayra Guillén, Guillén’s older sister, informed reporters exterior court docket.
Attorneys listed as representing Aguilar didn’t instantly reply to an e mail looking for remark Tuesday evening.
Guillén’s killing, and revelations that she had been sexually harassed by a supervisor however that unit management took no motion, impressed authorized reforms to assist and defend victims of sexual assault within the army.
Key elements of the I Am Vanessa Guillén Act launched a variety of reforms, together with making sexual harassment a standalone offense within the army code and shifting prosecution choices to an workplace of the chief prosecutor.
They have been handed as a part of the Nationwide Protection Authorization Act, which was signed into regulation in December.
