Sailor accused of killing fellow service member to plead guilty

Petty Officer 3rd Class Angelina Resendiz, shown in this undated photo, was found dead June 9, 2025, in a wooded area about 10 miles from Naval Station Norfolk, Va. Seaman Jermiah Copeland, who served with Resendiz aboard the destroyer USS James E. Williams, is expected to plead guilty Monday in connection with her death, according to Resendiz’s mother. (Photo courtesy of the Resendiz family)

NORFOLK, Va. — A Navy sailor with a lengthy history of sexual assault and domestic violence accusations is expected to plead guilty on Monday to killing a fellow service member last year and dumping her body near a Virginia naval base.

Seaman Jermiah Copeland is slated for a general court-martial starting Monday at Naval Station Norfolk stemming from the death of Petty Officer 3rd Class Angelina Resendiz in May 2025.

Resendiz’s mother, Esmeralda Castle, told Stars and Stripes that he would admit to killing the sailor as part of a plea agreement. Castle said prosecutors notified her of the deal, to which she agreed.

A Navy Region Mid-Atlantic spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about the case. But during a Friday hearing in Norfolk, military judge Frank Hutchison agreed to the plea deal.

It’s not clear what charges Copeland will plead guilty to or how long he could serve in prison. Court records show that Copeland originally was charged with premeditated murder, which under the Uniform Code of Military Justice can carry a potential death sentence or life in prison.

During Friday’s hearing, Copeland’s defense attorney asked for a sentence reduction of three days for every one day his client already has served in confinement. Copeland, in his dress whites, was present during the approximately hour-long hearing, staring impassively ahead.

Copeland’s attorney made the sentence reduction request, arguing that his client had been illegally held in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day for nearly a year. As a result, Copeland was not being treated as a human being and his mental health had deteriorated, said Todd Mihill, a Coast Guard attorney.

Prosecutors countered that there were lawful reasons for the confinement, which was within the authority granted to brig officials.

Navy investigators believe Copeland killed Resendiz and hid her body in his barracks room before disposing of it in a wooded area about 10 miles from the Norfolk base, USNI News reported in September.

The mother of Petty officer 3rd Class Angelina Resendiz, shown in this undated photo, says the sailor accused of killing her in 2025 has agreed to plead guilty. Resendiz, a culinary specialist assigned to the destroyer USS James E. Williams, was reported missing on May 29, 2025. Her body was found nearly two weeks later in a wooded area near Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. (Courtesy Photo/Aaliyah De La Cruz)

Petty officer 3rd Class Angelina Resendiz, shown in this undated photo, was reported missing on May 29, 2025, and found dead on June 9, 2025. Prosecutors say Seaman Jermiah Copeland, who served with Resendiz aboard the destroyer USS James E. Williams, killed her and disposed of her body in a wooded area near Naval Station Norfolk. Her mother says Copeland has agreed to plead guilty in Resendiz's death. (Courtesy Photo/Aaliyah De La Cruz)

Castle said she will attend the Monday hearing and hopes to talk privately with Copeland but doesn’t know whether the meeting will be approved.

“I want to get to a place where I can find compassion and forgiveness,” Castle said.

Castle has strongly criticized the Navy’s handling of her daughter’s disappearance. She also questions why Copeland, who is accused of raping two other women and committing other sexual and violent crimes prior to Resendiz’s death, was allowed to continue serving among fellow sailors.

“This situation was absolutely preventable,” Castle said. Navy leaders also “should be facing criminal charges or be removed from service,” she added.

Resendiz, a 21-year-old culinary specialist assigned to the destroyer USS James E. Williams, was first reported missing on May 29, 2025.

Friends and family members say Resendiz was with Copeland the day she disappeared. Copeland later told investigators that he didn’t know where Resendiz was and that he had dropped her off at her barracks the same day.

Those statements were later determined to be false, according to court records.

It wasn’t until June 3, 2025 — five days after Resendiz was last seen or in contact with family and friends — that a statewide missing adult alert was issued.

That lag occurred because the Navy initially considered her absent without official leave, a response that has drawn criticism from her family and congressional inquiries into the handling of her disappearance.

It has also drawn comparisons to the death of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, whose 2020 killing led to Defense Department policy reforms on sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Twelve days after Resendiz was reported missing, her badly decomposed body was found June 9, 2025. The Navy has denied any wrongdoing in the response to Resendiz’s disappearance and death.

A native of Washington state, Copeland joined the Navy in July 2023. He was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in December 2023, serving a little more than a year on the ship before being transferred to Williams in January 2025.

Charges also have been filed in two other cases dating from Copeland’s time aboard Truman. He is accused of raping a fellow sailor in November 2024. He also is charged with sexually assaulting and attempting to strangle another service member in July 2024.

In addition, he is facing rape charges in a case involving a civilian Norfolk woman in May 2025, just days before the disappearance and killing of Resendiz, court records show.

All told, Copeland faces charges under the UCMJ that include murder, sexual assault, aggravated assault, domestic violence, taking videos or photographs of intimate body parts of women without their consent and obstructing an investigation.

The status of those charges involving the other women was unclear as of Friday.

Copeland also faced allegations of sexual assault or misconduct before enlisting in the Navy.

In May 2022, a judge issued a temporary sexual assault protection order against him in a case involving an underage girl, according to Washington state court records. It’s not clear how that case ultimately was resolved.

That same year, he was accused of kissing and groping another underage girl against her will, but no charges were filed in that case, according to media reports following his detention over Resendiz’s killing.

Friends and family describe Resendiz as a friendly, caring young woman who loved being a sailor. She was on the cusp of building a culinary arts career and aspired to cook for high-ranking military officials and dignitaries, Castle previously told Stars and Stripes.

“I don’t think she understood … the impact that she made on other people by just being herself,” Castle said.