The attorney representing a slain Texas soldier’s family announced she will introduce the “#IamVanessaGuillen” bill to the nation’s capital next week.
Natalie Khawam, the attorney for Guillen's family, tells ABC Action News bill will be introduced on Wednesday, September 16 at noon on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C.
The bill, proposed in July, will allow soldiers to report a sexual assault to a third party.
"It will provide the victim a right to be heard an independent investigation, not conflicted, not biased," Khawam said last month during a press conference in downtown Tampa.
Vanessa Guillen was a 20-year-old soldier with the U.S. Army. Prior to her disappearance and death, Guillen had told her family she was being sexually harassed by another soldier at Fort Hood, according to a website set up by Guillen’s family.
Guillen’s mother offered to report the sexual harassment for her daughter but Vanessa reportedly told her mother that other female soldiers “had reported sexual harassment and that the U.S. Army didn’t believe them,” according to the family’s website.
Guillen then went missing in April and some of her remains were found in a river in Texas. The suspected killer, 20-year-old Aaron David Robinson, took his own life before authorities could detain him.
Robinson’s girlfriend, 22-year-old Cecily Aguilar, was arrested after she was accused of helping Robinson dismember and bury Guillen’s remains, according to ABC News.
Guillen’s disappearance and death prompted calls for justice for the young Texas soldier.
"Enough is enough. It’s time for accountability. It’s time for changes. It’s time for reform and we ask everybody to be part of this movement," Vanessa’s sister Lupe Guillen said last month.
#IAmVanessaGuillen #JusticeForVanessaGuillen @RepMullin @RepSpeier https://t.co/jCaU4aRAJt pic.twitter.com/5ksjINdmYo
— Attorney Natalie Khawam (@WhistleblowerLF) September 12, 2020
