Fort Campbell soldier’s husband and woman charged in brutal stabbing death of the 23-year-old in Tennessee
Two individuals have been charged in connection with the death of Katia Dueñas Aguilar, a Fort Campbell soldier who was fatally stabbed nearly 70 times last year, police announced on Saturday.
Sofia Rodas, 35, faces charges of first-degree murder and evidence tampering in the killing of U.S. Army Private First Class Katia Dueñas Aguilar, 23, according to a news release from the Clarksville Police Department. Aguilar’s body was discovered in her Clarksville, Tennessee, home in May.
Aguilar’s husband, 40-year-old Reynaldo Salinas Cruz, has been charged with evidence tampering in connection with her death. Both Rodas and Salinas Cruz had previously been in custody on unrelated federal charges and were extradited to Clarksville on Friday, police said. Attorneys representing them in their federal cases did not immediately respond to inquiries on Saturday.
Authorities have not yet released specific details about the charges.
Originally from Mesquite, Texas, Dueñas Aguilar enlisted in the Army in 2018, according to KTVT-TV. She was stationed at Fort Campbell, located on the Tennessee-Kentucky border, and was a member of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. She also leaves behind a 4-year-old son.
An autopsy by the Montgomery County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that Dueñas Aguilar sustained 68 stab wounds to her neck and upper body. The medical examiner determined her cause of death to be homicide due to sharp-force injuries to the neck.
Before she died, Dueñas Aguilar told her family she was planning on leaving the Army. Her sister told KTVT-TV that she decided to stay after she spoke with an Army counselor.
“She would…tell me that she’s not happy over there and I wanted her to come back so we could make more memories,” Cecilia Ruiz-Aguilar said.
