Public memorial set in Houston for slain Texas soldier Vanessa Guillen
HOUSTON - A memorial for Vanessa Guillen, the slain Texas soldier, has been scheduled more than three months after she was killed by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood, an attorney for the family announced Tuesday.
The service is set for Friday at the same field on which Vanessa once played soccer as a high school athlete, Guillen family attorney Natalie Khawam said in a news release. The Catholic service will run from noon to 8 p.m. at Cesar E. Chavez High School in Houston.
It will be open to the public and will also be streamed online.
Guillen disappeared from Fort Hood on April 22, and Army officials confirmed July 6 that her remains had been found. Investigators said she was bludgeoned to death on base by a fellow soldier, who later killed himself, according to a federal complaint.
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Lawyer Natalie Khawam said the U.S. Army Criminal Investigations Division told her that the other soldier bludgeoned 20-year-old soldier Vanessa Guillen with a hammer at Fort Hood and later dismembered her and buried the remains in the woods.
Civilian Cecily Aguilar, 22, is charged with a federal count of conspiracy to destroy evidence in helping dispose of the body. She has pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Bell County Jail.
MORE: Killeen woman indicted by federal grand jury in connection with disappearance of Vanessa Guillen
Guillen’s death is under investigation by Army officials. Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy ordered an independent review of the command climate at Fort Hood following Guillen’s slaying.