US Army confirms second female soldier’s death at Fort Hood amid sexual harassment concerns
The US Army has acknowledged that a second female soldier, Spc. Katerina Weikel, died on March 13th, the same day as Pvt. Ana Basaldua Ruiz, a Hispanic GI whose family reported she was sexually harassed, was found dead at Fort Hood.
Weikel, a military police officer who died off-post a day after her 29th birthday, prompted investigations by the Killeen Police Department and the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division. However, Fort Hood’s commander, Lt. Gen. Sean Bernabe, did not mention Weikel during a news conference held four days after the deaths.
Fort Hood’s spokesperson, Lt. Col. Tania Donovan, confirmed Weikel’s death in response to an inquiry from the San Antonio Express-News on Tuesday. Donovan said the Army did not disclose the death earlier because it took time to notify next of kin, and a soldier’s death can be confirmed only after relatives have been informed. The Army did not reveal how Weikel died.
The two deaths could intensify pressure on the Army to demonstrate that it has improved the treatment of female soldiers since a 2020 investigation found “major flaws” at Fort Hood and a command climate “that was permissive of sexual harassment and sexual assault.”
The 2020 investigation was triggered by the murder of another Hispanic female soldier, Vanessa Guillén, 20, of Houston, who went missing in April 2020. Guillén had told her family that she had been sexually harassed at the Central Texas installation, the nation’s largest active-duty armored military post. Her remains were discovered in June of that year. Prosecutors said a fellow soldier bludgeoned her to death with a hammer, then tried to dismember and burn her remains. He committed suicide before he could be tried.
After the Army investigation, the base’s acting commander, Maj. Gen. Scott Efflandt, and top leaders of the 1st Cavalry Division lost their jobs. In all, 14 commanders up and down the chain of command were removed from their posts.
Basaldua Ruiz’s death prompted a bipartisan group of US senators led by Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, to demand a “complete, thorough and impartial” investigation. The Army has not disclosed how she died.
Fort Hood has experienced outbreaks of violent crime and suicides, as well as sexual harassment and sexual assault over the years. Fort Hood officials told the Express-News that a total of 101 soldiers have died on-post and off since 2020, with 44 of them being suicides. Approximately 35,000 soldiers are assigned to the base near Killeen, about 150 miles northeast of San Antonio.
It could be weeks or longer before the Army releases information about how Basaldua Ruiz and Weikel died. Bernabe had said that Basaldua Ruiz had been dealing with “stressors in her life” not related to sexual harassment. However, Donovan declined to answer whether Weikel also showed signs of stress and, if so, whether she had sought help.
Weikel was born in Buffalo, New York, and moved with her family to the Hudson Valley town of Walden when she was three years old, according to a death notice published in the Hudson Valley Times. She graduated from Valley Central High School in 2012 and attended the State University of New York at Albany. Weikel enlisted in the Army in November 2019 and graduated from boot camp at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. She was assigned to the 64th Military Police Company at Fort Hood and deployed to Poland and Germany in November 2020. The Army said she had received the National Defense Service Medal.
Fort Hood used to routinely issue news releases after soldiers died that included their ranks, names, ages, hometown
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