Protest honoring Vanessa Guillen to be held in Yuma
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY)-Locals are meeting at the Army Recruiting Center located at 1630 S Pacific Ave on Friday, July 10, for a peaceful protest to demand justice for Vanessa Guillen and her family.
20-year-old Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen was last seen April 22 between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot of her Regimental Engineer Squadron Headquarters, 3rd Cavalry Regiment on Fort Hood, Texas. Her car keys, barracks room key, identification card, and wallet were later found in the armory room where she was working earlier in the day. She was last seen in the parking lot wearing a black t-shirt and purple fitness-type pants.
According to Guillen's family lawyer, Guillen expressed to her mother, Gloria Guillen, that she felt unsafe at Fort Hood and said a sergeant had been sexually harassing her. However, Guillen never told her mother the name never reported the incidents to the Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program.
Guillen's remains were found June 30.
Last Wednesday, Aaron Robinson, a suspect in Guillen's disappearance, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Natalie Khawam, the attorney says Robinson hit Guillen with a hammer to her head in the armory room after Guillen told him she was planning to file a harassment complaint against Robinson and believes Robinson became enraged when she told him that.
Khawam says Robinson and his accused girlfriend Cecily Aguilar, tried to set Guillen's body on fire but she wouldn't burn. They then dismembered her body with a machete. Aguilar is accused of helping Robinson dispose of Guillen's body.
Locals will be meeting at the Army Recruiting Center located at 1630 S Pacific Ave in Yuma on Friday, July 10, at 5 p.m.
Locals encourage you to bring your mask and water.
According to their event post on Facebook, it says, "Let's do this for all our men and women who are serving our country. For all those men and women being sexually harrased but are too scared to come out with their story."
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