A $55,000 reward has been offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the murder of a North Texas soldier, but the soldier’s mother on Saturday asked for more than double the reward.
Katia Duenas Aguilar, 23, of Mesquite, was found dead in a home near Fort Campbell, Tennessee, on May 18, and authorities say their death is being investigated as a homicide.
On Thursday, the League of Latino Citizens, the nation’s oldest Latino civil rights organization, announced a $25,000 reward. On Saturday, LULAC announced that Duenas Aguilar’s mother, Carmen Aguilar, had donated $30,000 to the fund and was urging the community to help.
In a written statement, former Dallas City Councilman and LULAC national president Domingo Garcia urged anyone with information about Duenas Aguilar’s death to come forward and speak with police.
“LULAC stands with Carmen Aguilar, the mother of a young woman, a military man serving a country far away. Her life was taken and we must seek justice,” Garcia said. “This mother deserves our full and unequivocal support as she dedicates not only her money but her whole heart and soul to finding the perpetrators.”
During a press conference with LULAC on Saturday, Carmen Aguilar called for justice in Spanish.
“I know I will never see my daughter again. There are so many things I still don’t understand, even though she told me her contract was ending this month,” she said. “But in reality, I was told she was ready to reenlist. I don’t understand. I don’t understand what was going on in her mind, what planted the seeds in her mind that would cause her to have such a drastic change of heart.”
Garcia, who set the initial reward, said in an earlier statement. As in Vanessa’s case The group has offered a reward for Guillen, which is likely to bring national attention to the case.
“We will not rest, and we will not close this investigation into the murder of this Army soldier,” Garcia said.
Guillen, a 20-year-old from Houston, went missing from Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos) in central Texas in 2020 after telling her family she was being sexually harassed at work. Her dismembered remains were found two months later.
Duenas Aguilar’s body was discovered May 18. Police officials said in a social media post that Clarksville police responded to an ambulance call in the 900 block of Tiny Town Road around 8:30 p.m. and responded to the scene.
Authorities said officers discovered a woman’s body inside the home and homicide detectives were called to the scene.
The body was later identified as that of Duenas Aguilar, a soldier stationed at Fort Campbell, about five miles northwest of where police responded to the scene, who was remembered in social media posts as a kind person and a good friend.
Duenas Aguilar was assigned to the Army’s 101st Airborne Division as part of a combat aviation brigade, division officials said in a news release Tuesday. The 101st Airborne Division is the Army’s only aviation assault division, according to the Army.
At a press conference, her mother expressed her frustration and shared her pain.
“I gave my daughter to them alive and they gave her back a dead body. It’s not fair. It’s not fair. I have no words,” Carmen Aguilar said. “She had dreams, she had so many things she wanted to do. She told me, ‘Mom, I want to be a psychologist,’ and now she’s dead. … I just ask that they help me find justice for her and the others who died. I never thought I’d have to go through this and now it’s me and her siblings who want answers.”
LULAC, the organization behind the reward, said in a news release that Duenas Aguilar grew up in North Texas. He was an information technology specialist who enlisted in the Army in 2018 and had been stationed at Fort Campbell since 2019.
Garcia said LULAC has been in contact with Duenas Aguilar’s family to express its condolences.
He added that sexual trauma in the military will remain a “deep-rooted problem” unless people speak out and expose it.
“I want them and our community to know that LULAC is watching and we encourage anyone with information to come forward and speak without fear,” Garcia said. “LULAC will work with the Army to ensure justice is served through a full and transparent investigation into the murder of this young soldier.”
Clarksville authorities have not released any additional information about her death, including any suspect descriptions. Anyone with information is asked to contact Clarksville Police Detectives at 931-648-0656, extension 5720. Anonymous tips can be submitted to the Clarksville-Montgomery County Crime Tip Center at 931-645-8477, https://P3tips.com/591.
