Two people have finally been charged in the mysterious murder of a young female soldier, who was found in a puddle of blood with 68 stab wounds in an army dorm.
Police arrested two suspects – including the victim’s own husband – in the gruesome murder of Private First Class Katia Dueñas-Aguilar, 23, who was found dead on May 18, 2024.
Sofia Rodas, 35, has been charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, Clarksville police announced in a press release.
Meanwhile, the victim’s husband, Reynaldo Salinas Cruz, 40, faces charges of tampering with evidence in connection with his wife’s death.
The two suspects were extradited to Clarksville on Friday after being held on unrelated federal charges.
They were served their sealed indictments at Montgomery County Jail.
‘The successful progression of this case highlights the critical partnership between local law enforcement and military authorities in addressing severe crimes that impact service members and their families,’ police said in the release.
Dueñas-Aguilar suffered a horrific 68 stab wounds to her neck and upper body before being left to die in her Clarksville, Tennessee home last May.
Police arrested two suspects – including the victim’s own husband – in the gruesome murder of Private First Class Katia Dueñas-Aguilar (pictured), 23, who was found dead on May 18, 2024
Sofia Rodas, 35, has been charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, Clarksville police announced in a press release. The victim’s husband, Reynaldo Salinas Cruz, 40, faces charges of tampering with evidence in connection with his wife’s death
She was found at around 8:30pm in a locked bedroom at the Tennessee residence.
Medical examiners determined the young soldier died from sharp-force injuries to her neck in what they ruled a homicide.
Dueñas-Aguilar joined the Army in 2018, completing basic training and advanced individual training at Fort Eisenhower.
She was then assigned to the 101st Airborne Division’s (Air Assault) Combat Aviation Brigade, whose Lt. Col. Tony Hoefler issued a statement to Military.com in the wake of the discovery.
At the time of her murder, Dueñas-Aguilar’s grieving mother, hinted that someone within the military may have been responsible.
‘The problem is inside! The problem is inside and you [the reporter she had been speaking to] know too!’ an emotional Carmen Aguilar shouted when asked is she thought someone within the Army could have killed her daughter.
‘We’re not all good. We want to believe that it’s a nightmare, that we can wake up and she will still be there,’ added Dueñas-Aguilar’s younger sister, Cecilia Ruiz-Aguilar, as she and other members of the family addressed the crowd in the victim’s hometown in Texas.
‘We’re not okay right now.’
The family added in an additional statement: ‘We want to know what happened, who did it and we want to make sure that person or people are brought to justice.’
Medical examiners determined the young soldier (pictured with her child) died from sharp-force injuries to her neck in what they ruled a homicide
Dueñas-Aguilar suffered a horrific 68 stab wounds to her neck and upper body before being left to die in her Clarksville, Tennessee home last May
Ruiz-Aguilar, meanwhile, hinted her sister – a mom-of-one – was not so happy while stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky right across the border, telling her local CBS affiliate in Texas: ‘She would already tell me that she’s not happy over there.
‘I wanted her to come back so we could make more memories.’
Not offering any more detail, she asked for help in finding the person who killed Duenas-Aguilar at her Clarksville apartment a few miles from her base.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .