Fort Hood to hold service for slain Houston native
Soldiers at Fort Hood will honor the life of slain U.S. Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén on Friday morning.
The 3rd Cavalry Regiment to which the 20-year-old Houston native belonged will hold a service for her at 10 a.m. at the Army base in Killeen.
“This is a long-held military tradition that allows her unit to mourn her loss,” an Army statement said of the service, which will be closed to the public.
Guillén, who reportedly told her family she was being sexually harassed during her service, went missing from the base on April 22. Her remains were discovered along the Leon River on June 30.
A suspect in her death, Spc. Aaron David Robinson, died by suicide before police could arrest him. FBI documents allege that Robinson bludgeoned Guillén to death on the base and dismembered her body.
Another suspect, Robinson’s girlfriend Cecily Ann Aguilar, faces federal charges for allegedly helping dispose of Guillén’s body.
The Army continues to investigate her death as well as her reported sexual harassment. Army officials are also planning an independent review of the culture at Fort Hood.
The soldier’s killing has sparked a national movement to end sexual violence in the military.
Guillén’s family has accepted an invitation to meet with President
Donald Trump on July 29 at the White Houston, Stars and Stripes reports.
The family’s attorney, Natalie Khawam, said the meeting will take place one day before she will introduce the #IAmVanessaGuillén bill to Congress to address sexual violence in the military.