Netflix Documentary Looks at Vanessa Guillen’s Murder — and Family’s Fight for Answers from Military

It has been over two years since the homicide of U.S. Army soldier Vanessa Guillen garnered international attention amid revelations she had been sexually harassed before her death.

On Nov. 17, Netflix will release a documentary, I’m Vanessa Guillen, which follows her family’s battle for answers and reform — an excursion that took them to Congress and the Oval Office and prodded the passage of the I Am Vanessa Guillen Act, which revamped the way sexual harassment and assault in the military are investigated.

The documentary features interviews with her sisters, Mayra and Lupe, her mother Gloria, her companions and her sweetheart, as well as U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

“This was not one of those cases the military could hide where no one will think to look,” Speier says in the documentary’s trailer, obtained solely by Individuals.

On April 22, 2020, at about 10:30 a.m., Guillen was seen in a parking parcel at squadron headquarters in Fort Hood, the Texas military installation where she was stationed.

It was the last time anyone saw her. In the days and weeks that followed, Guillen’s sister, Lupe, said the family’s attempts to find solutions surrounding Guillen’s disappearance and allegations of harassment were allegedly met with lies from Fort Hood personnel. “They misled our faces each and every day … which is over two months,” Lupe said at a public interview at the time.

Lupe added that Fort Hood personnel “didn’t regard my sister. They didn’t guard my sister. They’re always trying to conceal for each other.”

“My sister deserved regard,” Lupe added. “She should be heard. Because in the event that this could happen to my sister, it could happen to anyone else.”

It would take 10 weeks before Guillen’s remains were discovered near the Leon Stream in Chime District, Texas.

Her executioner was Aaron David Robinson, an individual soldier at Ford Hood, who ended his own life as law enforcement surrounded him.

An ensuing investigation would reveal that Guillen was harassed by a supervisor, and that Guillen’s complaints about the harassment were met by inaction by supervisors.

The Army said Robinson had never harassed Guillen, however her family disputes this claim. “At the center, this is a tale about overcoming the greatest chances imaginable in the name of family, love and equity. This is David versus Goliath on steroids,” the documentary’s chief, Christy Wegener, said in a statement to Individuals.

“Taking on the U.S. military, one of the largest, most remarkable institutions in America is no easy feat. In making the film, it was incredible to observe a family, in the most tragic snapshot of their lives, set their despondency aside, step out into the public arena and battle for the greater great,” Wegener said.

Lupe Guillen, in a statement to Individuals, said, “I accept it is fundamental to share Vanessa’s story with society because of the stigmas surrounding sexual viciousness and the ongoing femicides happening around the world. To set a reminder to young ladies and everyone to involve their voices for change to be established.”