Soldier charged with killing husband, death previously ruled suicide

Editor’s note: This article discusses suicide. If you or a loved one is experiencing thoughts of self-harm or suicide, you can confidentially seek assistance via the Military/Veterans Crisis Line by calling 988 and dialing 1, via text at 838255 or chat at http://VeteransCrisisLine.net. You don’t need to be a VA beneficiary to use the service.

A sergeant stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, faces a murder court-martial after investigators reversed an earlier determination that her husband died by suicide on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2019.

Authorities thought Sgt. Hector A. Cervantes, an infantryman assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor at the El Paso installation, died by suicide when he was found with a gunshot wound to his head at an undisclosed on-post location.

His El Paso Times obituary listed his then-surviving relatives, including his “loving wife,” Sgt. Carmen J. Iron Hawk.

Cervantes was a father of three, his obituary said, and one of his daughters is named for Iron Hawk’s older brother who died in 2014.