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Shop NowThe family of Vanessa Guillén can close out a horrid chapter in their lives. It ends with the maximum prison sentence handed down to Cecily Aguilar, for her part in disposing of the body. Vanessa’s killer, Army Specialist Aaron Robinson, is already dead.
Final sentence in Guillén case
Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén was brutally murdered while on active duty at Fort Cavazos, Texas. At the time, the base was named “Fort Hood.” She was 20 years old and so was her killer, Aaron Robinson.
After he bludgeoned his victim to death in the base armory, he called his civilian girlfriend Cecily Aguilar. She’s 25 now and will be spending the next 30 years in federal prison for helping to dismember and dispose of the body last year.
Authorities note that is the maximum sentence, considering what Aguilar was charged with. Not only did she help him hide Guillén’s body in the woods, she helped chop it up. Isn’t that what friends are for?
????From @JarellBakerKXXV in court for the Cecily Aguilar sentencing connected to Spc. Vanessa Guillén's murder. Justin Duck with Texas Rangers testifies Aaron Robinson brought her body to their apartment in a tote. Then, they 'chopped up and skinned her' body on the road. pic.twitter.com/yRC2TOuUQN
— Trenton Hooker (@trentonhooker) August 14, 2023
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Jaime Esparza, issued a statement following the verdict. “Our hope is that today’s sentence brings a sense of relief and justice to the Guillén family, who have endured such pain throughout these past few years.”
“Ms. Aguilar’s actions were indefensible,” he added, “and she will now face the maximum penalty for the choices she made.” Robinson, reports explain, “was accused of bludgeoning Guillén to death.”
He “died by suicide after shooting himself on July 1, 2020.” That happens to be the day after they found the body of Vanessa Guillén.
Mutilate and conceal
As prosecutors successfully argued in court, Cecily Aguilar helped mutilate and conceal the body of Vanessa Guillén. She didn’t bother to deny it. She stylishly had her hair dyed orange to match her new jumpsuit.
She “pleaded guilty to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of false statement representation.” Her plea was entered in November of 2022 but she’s only now being sentenced.
Court documents note that “in addition to concealing the body, Aguilar tampered with information on a Google account for Robinson and also made four false statements to federal investigators.”
You received Justice today. @vguillen_30 rest easy sister. Today was such a hard day, I learned so many details regarding your death after the fact of it’s been 3 YEARS. My heart hurts. ???? Cecily Ann Aguilar has received the Maximum sentence of 30 years. pic.twitter.com/2DlyKf5Jsg
— Mayra Guillen (@mguilen_) August 14, 2023
That’s never a good thing but they sort of expect it in murder cases. People rarely say “yeah, you got me.” They make investigators earn their paychecks first. The ones working for justice on the Guillén case earned theirs.
Before she was murdered, Ms. Guillén had reported being sexually harassed by a different soldier. When she came up missing in April of 2020, everyone thought it was related. “She had been called in for a shift in the military base’s armory room” and that’s where she died.
There was a major housecleaning of the base since then and “Army officials punished 21 commissioned and non-commissioned officers following a probe into the scandal-plagued base.” Then changed the name to further erase the blemish from history.
