A Texas woman accused of dismembering slain Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen appeared in federal court Tuesday afternoon.
Cecily Aguilar, 22, is facing three conspiracy to tamper with evidence charges after she allegedly helped her boyfriend, soldier Aaron Robinson, dismember 20-year-old Guillen after Robinson beat her to death with a hammer.
Aguilar had her first appearance earlier this month, through a Zoom video call due to coronavirus concerns. When a judge asked her if she understood the charges against her, Aguilar initially shook her head “no,” but eventually said, “Yeah, sure.”
Aguilar pleaded not guilty to all three charges on Tuesday. A judge ordered her to be held without bail until trial.
The Statesman reports that a crowd of protesters gathered around the Waco courtroom Tuesday and shouted “Justice for Vanessa.”
If convicted, Aguilar faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Meanwhile, the Guillen family attorney, Natalie Kwaham. announced Tuesday that they plan to meet with President Donald Trump on July 29 in Washington D.C. to introduce the #IamVanessaGuillen bill. The bill aims to make sure what happens to Vanessa doesn’t happen to another solider.
“No one heard her screaming, no one saw her blood all over the room,” Kwaham said. “There were glass windows in this office. So, if that could have happened to Vanessa, this can happen to anyone. Our bill will make sure this never happens again.”
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Guillen was last seen alive on April 22 at around 1 p.m. at the Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, in Fort Hood, Texas. Guillen left behind her car keys, barracks room key, identification card, and wallet in the Arms room, where she worked.
Someone called Guillen in to work on her day off, but it was not Robinson, according to a criminal complaint.
A witness, however, saw Guillen walk to an adjacent arms room, where Robinson was working on April 22. She never came out of the room. According to Kwaham, blood was left all over the room after Robinson bludgeoned her to death.
Robinson hid Guillen’s body in a Pelican case, stored it to the side of the armory room, then left the base to buy supplies. He returned that evening and took the case to the Leon River area.
Kwaham said Robinson determined that he couldn’t dispose of Guillen himself and in turn, contacted Aguilar and asked her to help. Both Robinson and Aguilar drove to Leon River, then used a machete to hack Guillen’s body apart.
On April 26, the suspects returned to Leon River wearing hairnets and gloves. They used cement to encase Guillen’s body parts and lime and rocks to get rid of the evidence. They buried the hairnets and gloves at the crime scene, according to the criminal complaint, then drove home and burned the clothes they were wearing that day.
“Vanessa’s sister Mayra was arriving at the base; while was looking for her sister, they were dismembering her body,” Kwaham said during a previous “Crime Stories with Nancy Grace” episode.
Cecily Aguilar Complaint in… by Leigh Egan on Scribd
After leaving the scene, the suspects allegedly threw the machete, hammer, and Guillen’s cellphone from a car window.
Although a witness saw Robinson leaving the base on April 22 with a Pelican case, no warrants were taken out until after investigators found the remains. When authorities pursued Robinson earlier this month, he shot himself in the head. He died at the scene.
Officials told Kwaham that Guillen’s face had been bludgeoned so badly that officials could barely use dental records since her teeth were smashed in during the gruesome attack
Check back for updates.
Read all of our Vanessa Guillen coverage here.
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[Feature Photo: Vanessa Guillen/Handout]
