A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Texas woman to 30 years in prison for her role in the brutal slaying of Army Spec. Vanessa Guillén, the Justice Department announced, bringing closure to a heart-wrenching case that brought widespread attention to the military’s pervasive mishandling of sex crimes and later inspired major reforms.
Cecily Aguilar, 25, pleaded guilty last year to helping her Army boyfriend, Spec. Aaron Robinson, dismember and bury the soldier’s remains after Robinson bludgeoned 20-year-old Guillén to death in April 2020.
In a statement, Jaime Esparza, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, said Aguilar received the maximum possible penalty. He called her actions “indefensible.”
“Our hope,” Esparza said, “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.”
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Aguilar’s attorneys did not immediately return requests for comment.
Aguilar is the only person tied to Guillén’s murder to answer for the crime. Robinson, 20, fatally shot himself as police sought to apprehend him following the discovery of Guillén’s remains in Belton, Tex., about 25 miles east of the Army post where he and Guillén were stationed.
Guillén’s case — from revelations about the workplace sexual harassment she faced to the myriad leadership failures that fostered a culture of misogyny — triggered a massive social movement now credited with helping transform how the military cares for survivors of sex crimes and investigates its own for such offenses.
The sentencing closed a painful chapter for the family, Guillén’s older sister Mayra Guillén told reporters in a news conference outside the courthouse. New and disturbing evidence was presented during the sentencing hearing, she said, and she was taken aback by Aguilar asking for forgiveness.
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“Today was a very hard day for my family,” Mayra Guillén said.
Last month, President Biden signed an order implementing bipartisan reforms that, among other things, establish independent military prosecutors to oversee cases involving sexual assault, domestic violence and murder, removing that responsibility from commanders.
Advocates have long argued for such a change, saying it’s flawed to have officers investigate service members within their own organization because they can launch reprisals against accusers, shield troops from accountability, or move to protect themselves if they are the accused of wrongdoing.
The old system — for far too long, critics say — worked against many junior troops, who are vulnerable to being targeted or pressured by more senior service members with greater clout or influence in the military’s pecking order.
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The change is the biggest reform to the Uniform Code of Military Justice since its creation in 1950, the White House said.
The case also helped to change how the Army attempts to locate missing service members, giving greater urgency into such efforts. The norm had been to consider missing soldiers as malingerers or cowards, and leaders did not place much emphasis on locating those who did not report for duty, which delayed canvassing for personnel who had died by suicide or in accidents. The new policy considers soldiers unaccounted for as missing, triggering an immediate search within the first 48-hours of their disappearance.
Guillén, who specialized in small-arms repair, was stationed at Fort Cavazos in Texas, formerly known as Fort Hood, where Army investigators later uncovered a toxic culture where sexual harassment was permissible. Guillén experienced harassment from a superior but confided in her family that she was afraid to surface the issue with her chain of command, her family has said.
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On April 22, 2020, Guillén visited Robinson’s office at the base to conduct a weapons accountability check, according to court documents.
After Robinson killed Guillén, witnesses described seeing him struggle with a plastic box as he shoved it into his car and drove away. Aguilar, according to court documents detailing her interview with authorities, said Robinson picked her up and took her to a site near the Leon River in Belton. The box containing Guillén’s body was already there, she said. Robinson and Aguilar proceeded to dismember Guillén, attempted to burn her remains and then buried them in separate shallow graves along the river, investigators said.
Guillén’s family frantically searched for the missing soldier, but it took investigators months to build evidence against Robinson and Aguilar. On June 30, 2020, after authorities found the remains and arrested Aguilar, police had her call Robinson, who had been detained at the base but still had access to his phone. He was frantic, having seen news articles about the discovery of Guillén’s remains, and told Aguilar, “Baby, they found pieces.”
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Robinson slipped past the unarmed guard assigned to monitor him and fled the installation, shooting himself as police moved in to arrest him. It remains unclear how he obtained a firearm.
Aguilar, charged with 11 counts, pleaded guilty last year to accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of false statements or representation.
During the hearing, prosecutors showed law enforcement body-camera footage of Aguilar directing authorities to the location where she helped bury Guillén’s remains, said Guillén’s family attorney Natalie Khawam. In the video, Khawam said, Aguilar appeared calm and composed as she described in graphic detail how she and Robinson dismembered the woman’s body, mixed the remains inside mortar and buried them.
“We finally have closure in this case,” Khawam said after the sentencing. “It was long tough road, but we can finally celebrate justice for Vanessa.”
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