Former Armed Forces Member Arrested in Cold Case Murder of Pregnant Soldier Found Slain on US Army Base

A man was arrested Thursday in connection to the 2001 cold case murder of a 19-year-old pregnant soldier.

Amanda Gonzalez, 19, was found dead on Nov. 5, 2001 in the U.S. Army barracks in Fliegerhorst, Germany, while she was there on her first Army assignment, according to the FBI.

Gonzales was four months pregnant when she died of asphyxiation. Her death was ruled a homicide, the FBI said. 

The case went cold, but on Thursday, 21 years after the young soldier's murder, authorities arrested Shannon L. Wilkerson, now 42, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

At the time of Gonzales’ death, Wilkerson was a member of the Armed Forces but was later discharged from the U.S. Army, the DOJ said.

Wilkerson was charged with one count of first-degree murder in the death of Gonzales and he faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted, according to the DOJ. 

He pled not guilty, the DOJ told Inside Edition Digital.

Wilkerson's attorneys had no comment upon Inside Edition Digital's request.

Since the incident occurred in Germany, Wilkerson was charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which allows the U.S. federal courts to have jurisdiction over an alleged crime committed in Germany by a former member of the Armed Forces, the DOJ said.

According to the DOJ, the case is still under investigation by the FBI. Authorities did not specify a possible motive in the killing. 

“I hope they find who did this before I pass away,” Santos Gonzales, the father of Amanda Gonzales, said in a 2020 phone interview with KBTX. “I’m heartbroken.”

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