Woman accused of aiding in Vanessa Guillen’s death indicted by grand jury
FORT HOOD, Texas -- A woman accused of helping Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillen's suspected killer dismember and dispose of Guillen's body last year has been indicted by a grand jury.
Cecily Ann Aguilar was indicted Tuesday on 11 federal charges including accessory after the fact, destruction of records in a federal case, conspiracy to tamper with documents, tampering with documents and issuing false statements in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.
The charges come one month after a Texas judge denied a motion from Aguilar asking her confession in the crime be thrown out.
Guillen was a Fort Hood Army specialist who disappeared in April 2020. Her remains were found along the Leon River in late June that year.
The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Western District of Texas said Guillen was bludgeoned to death with a hammer by fellow soldier Aaron David Robinson in the arms room of the Killeen, Texas, military base, according to the criminal complaint. He later died by suicide in July when confronted by police after Guillen's remains were found.
Aguilar was his girlfriend at the time, according to the criminal complaint, and was taken into custody. In July 2020, she was charged with one federal count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence.
The Tuesday indictment stated Aguilar "did unlawfully and knowingly combine, conspire, confederate, and agree with another person to corruptly alter, destroy, mutilate, and conceal any record, document and other object," such as Guillen's body, "with the intent to impair its integrity and availability for use in an official proceeding."
The documents stated she and Robinson dismembered Guillen’s body, destroyed some of it and concealed what was left of her remains. They further said she made false statements "to prevent" Robinson and herself "from being charged with and prosecuted for any crime."
Lawyers for Aguilar did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
Natalie Khawam, the attorney for Guillen's family, told ABC News they are hoping for a "maximum sentence" for Aguilar.
“My clients, the Guillen family, and I believe that Cecily Aguilar is guilty. When the U.S. Attorney called me yesterday to tell us the news, we felt some relief knowing that justice is underway," Khawam said. "We pray that this trial does not drag on but rather is put on a speedy trial calendar so that justice is not delayed. Vanessa was brutally murdered, in a way no one should ever be taken from this Earth."
