Vanessa Guillén’s Family Opens Case Against the US Army
A case was filed on Friday against the Department of the Army seeking $35 million in damages after the sexual assault and death of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillén. Guillén’s family is looking for $10 million in the wrongful death and $25 million in personal injury claims for the Army’s role in her eventual murder.
In April 2020, the 20-year-old Guillén went missing from her Ford Hood barracks, her body being found on June 30th near Leon River in Bell County, Texas. The real story of her death began in October of 2019 when she reported a supervisor for sexual harassment, which escalated to assault, rape, sodomization, and numerous hours of mental anguish and fear through to her disappearance according to the Independent. In April 2021, the US Army released a report stating Fort Hood officers had received her complaints but chose not to act on them, leading to her death.
She was allegedly killed by fellow Specialist Aaron David Robinson, the same man who was physically assaulting her for most of the past year. According to CNN, he reportedly murdered her with a hammer at the barracks before moving her body by the river. He later killed himself while trying to escape law enforcement.
The ability to file this case against the DOD comes after a 9th circuit court decision earlier this week that altered the scope of the Feres Doctrine. A 1950s Supreme Court decision that stated the U.S. Army and its leaders were not able to be blamed for injuries sustained during active duty, the DOD had long used this as an excuse to not be blamed for their soldiers experiencing sexual assault. The 9th circuit declared that sexual assault is not a standard occurrence of service, and so it does not apply here, which opens the door for numerous other cases to be filed for justice. According to the Guillen’s family attorney Natalie Khawam: “They signed up to take a bullet for our country, not to be sexually assaulted while serving.”
