Cecily Aguilar Receives Maximum Sentence for Role in Vanessa Guillen Murder

WACO, Texas – A Killeen woman was sentenced in federal court in Waco today to 30 years in prison for her connection to the murder of U.S. Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen.

According to court documents, Cecily Aguilar, 25, assisted Army Specialist Aaron Robinson in corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating and concealing evidence—that is, the body of Vanessa Guillen—in order to prevent Robinson from being charged with and prosecuted for any crime. Aguilar also altered and destroyed information contained in a Google account of Robinson.  During the investigation into the disappearance of Vanessa Guillen, Aguilar made four materially false statements to federal investigators.

On Nov. 29, 2022, Aguilar pleaded guilty to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of false statement or representation. 

“Our hope is that today’s sentence brings a sense of relief and justice to the Guillen family, who have endured such pain throughout these past few years,” said U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza for the Western District of Texas. “Ms. Aguilar’s actions were indefensible, and she will now face the maximum penalty for the choices she made.  I’m grateful for our law enforcement partners who worked tirelessly on this case, as their dedication was essential in bringing this defendant to justice.”

The FBI; U.S. Marshals Service; Texas Rangers; Bell County Sheriff’s Office; Killeen Police Department; Texas Parks and Wildlife; U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division; and the University of North Texas Center for Human Identification Forensic Anthropology Unit investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Frazier and Greg Gloff prosecuted the case.

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