The family of Spc. Vanessa Guillén, who was found dead in 2020 at Fort Hood, Texas, is seeking $35 million in damages from the Army, according to a court filing, The Hill reported.
"Guillén suffered mental anguish, fear, emotional distress, physical injury, and death as a result of sexual harassment, rape, sodomy, and physical assault," the claim, made under the Federal Tort Claims Act and shared by the Texas Tribune, asserted. Her sister, Mayra Guillén, is the claimant.
The family is asking for $25 million in personal injury claims and $10 million for Vanessa Guillén's wrongful death, The Hill reported.
Guillén was bludgeoned to death by another soldier, Aaron David Robinson. Guillén had been missing for over two months when some of her dismembered remains were found buried along the Leon River on June 30. Upon hearing about the discovery, Robinson fled Fort Hood and fatally shot himself when law enforcement attempted to apprehend him in nearby Killeen, Texas.
Before Guillén went missing, she had told her family that she was being sexually assaulted by an unnamed sergeant at Fort Hood, and that complaints by other female soldiers made against the sergeant had been dismissed.
Army investigators have confirmed that Guillén was also sexually assaulted during her service, though not by her killer, The Hill reported.
In a statement accompanying the claim, Mayra Guillén said her younger sister had initially waited to disclose sexual harassment allegations for fear of retaliation. When another soldier tried to report them on her behalf, Vanessa Guillén, "suffered major retaliation" and wanted to commit suicide, Mayra Guillén wrote.
On Thursday, a panel of judges ruled in a case, Spletstoser v. Hyten, in which Air Force Gen. John Hyten, facing sexual assault allegations from Army Col. Kathryn Spletstoser, argued that the Feres doctrine, which prohibits troops from suing for injuries sustained during service, also applied to sexual assault, The Hill reported.
The judges, however, wrote in an opinion that "alleged sexual assault [could] not conceivably serve any military purpose" and that the Feres doctrine did not therefore apply, The Hill reported.
The Guillén family filed their claim on Friday, The Hill reported.
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