WACO, Texas — After pleading guilty to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of false statement or representation in the death of Vanessa Guillén on Nov. 28, 2020, Cecily Aguilar has been sentenced to 30 years in prison by a Waco judge.
"I'm happy to say that we can, in a sense, close this chapter and keep moving forward with whether it's legislation or whatever it is of Vanessa's legacy what's next that we keep pushing forward," Mayra Guillén, Vanessa's sister, said Monday outside the courthouse.
"This judge today, he gave justice to Vanessa, he gave justice for this case," said Natalie Khawam, the attorney of the Guillén family.
In a press conference after the sentencing Monday, Khawam told media outlets that the judge based his maximum sentence decision off the indefensible actions of Aguilar. Those action include new details that were revealed in the courtroom Monday.
Some details were so graphic it made people in the courtroom ill.
Aguilar's aggressive behavior in jail also supported the judge's s decision, according to Khawam.
"We're not talking about a person that has any remorse here," Khawam said. "Anyone could say sorry, two words are easy to say. It's what you did. The crime that you committed, the harm that you've done to this community and this family and all these people."
"We are hoping that this sentencing will bring some sense of relief and some sense of justice to the Guillén family who's waited so long to have this moment," said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza, with the Western District of Texas. "The actions of the defendants are indefensible, and the appropriate sentence was handed down."
Prior to the sentencing hearing on Monday, Aug. 14, Guillen's family members and Central Texas community members held a rally outside the courthouse, demanding the maximum 30-year sentence for Aguilar, who pled guilty to charges in connection to the 2020 murder of Fort Cavazos soldier Vanessa Guillén.
In addition to the 30-year sentence, Aguilar faced three years of supervised release and a $1 million fine, according to the Department of Justice.
Much was shared during the hearing, including an acknowledgement that Aguilar had both time and an opportunity to confess to the events that happened on April 22, 2020, as well as statements that her and then-boyfriend Spc. Aaron Robinson had gotten the idea of how to dismember Guillen from the crime drama TV series "Criminal Minds."
According to information from Robinson's Army card, Robinson was inside the arms room, where he killed Guillén, for over an hour. Blood was also found, according to a forensic search.
Additionally, it was revealed that the two also visited the burial site near the Leon River twice. Once to dismember Guillén's body and a second time to mix her remains with cement. Aguilar also said that it took about seven hours for Guillén's bones to be fully broken down among a host of other disturbing details.
On early July 1, Robinson shot and killed himself as Killeen police closed in on him after he left the post.
"This is a painful chapter my family wants to close once and for all," said Mayra Guillén, Vanessa Guillén's sister, ahead of the trial, "and we are pushing, praying and hoping for the maximum sentence."
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