Suspect arrested in chilly case homicide of pregnant soldier on Army base in Germany

A person was arrested in Florida Thursday in reference to the homicide of a pregnant younger soldier on a U.S. Army base in Germany greater than 21 years in the past, the FBI introduced.

Court paperwork allege that Shannon L. Wilkerson, 42, was liable for the dying of 19-year-old Pfc. Amanda Gonzales on Nov. 3, 2001. Wilkerson has been charged with one depend of first-degree homicide, in response to the FBI.

Gonzales was killed at Fliegerhorst Kaserne, a former U.S. Army base in Hanau, Germany, the place she was stationed as a prepare dinner on the time of her dying, the FBI mentioned. Her physique was discovered on Nov. 5, 2001, in her third-floor barracks room after she did not report for work, and her reason behind dying was dominated a murder by asphyxiation, in response to the company.

Gonzales was additionally 4 months pregnant when she died, in response to a previous FBI release. 

Wilkerson was within the Army on the time of Gonzales’ homicide, in response to the FBI, however was later discharged. Neither Wilkerson’s potential motive for the alleged homicide, nor his connection to Gonzales, was instantly supplied by prosecutors.

Wilkerson was charged beneath the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which supplies U.S. federal courts jurisdiction over crimes dedicated exterior of the nation by former Armed Forces members who’re not topic to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He faces a most sentence of life in jail if convicted, in response to the FBI.

In an interview with CBS affiliate KBTX in 2020, Gonzales’ dad and mom spoke about their continued seek for justice for his or her daughter, whose case obtained renewed consideration within the wake of Fort Hood soldier Vanessa Guillén’s homicide on the Texas Army base that yr.

“When I saw the news, and that she [Vanessa] was murdered, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is my daughter all over again,'” Gloria Bates, Gonzales’ mom, mentioned on the time.