A US Navy Petty Officer pleaded guilty to murdering a colleague in a barracks on Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. The victim's body was found 12 days after her disappearance in a wooded area off base.
, whose body was later found in a wooded area of Virginia. Petty Officer Jermiah Copeland pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with the death of Petty Officer Angelina Resendiz at a general court-martial in Norfolk, Va.
, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service “Petty Officer Copeland deserves to be held fully accountable for his heinous actions that resulted in the tragic murder of Petty Officer Resendiz,” Special Agent in Charge Emily Schmid said. Petty Officer Jermiah Copeland pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with the death of Petty Officer Angelina Resendiz at a general court-martial in Norfolk, Va.
Copeland told investigators that Resendiz, 21, was in his barracks in Miller Hall on Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, hanging out, drinking, and kissing on May 29, 2025, when she got upset about something on his phone,He admitted that he jumped on top of Resendiz and strangled her when she “started freaking out” and he tried to quiet her down.
“I killed CS3 Resendiz on May 29, 2025… I strangled her with my hands,” Copeland told the judge on Monday, according to the outlet. Officials had questioned Copeland over Resendiz’s whereabouts on June 1, while her body was inside his closet.
Resendiz, 21, was last seen alive on May 29 at her barracks in Miller Hall around 10 p.m.Resendiz’s body was discovered in a wooded area in Norfolk, about 10 miles off base, on June 9 — 12 days after her disappearance. He then said he dumped her body inside a Navy-issued black wheeled duffel bag, according to USNI News.
“I knew people were looking for her and if she was found in my closet, I would be in trouble,” Copeland told the court. Prosecutors presented cell phone data at a pre-trial hearing showing Copeland’s watch tracked him descending stairs around 4 a.m. on June 2, the outlet reported. Resendiz’s body was discovered in a wooded area in Norfolk, about 10 miles off base, on June 9 — 12 days after her disappearance.
His GPS also placed him driving off base, and at 4:47 a.m. he dropped a Google Maps pin — and screenshotted it — near where Resendiz’s body was later found. Under the plea deal, Copeland was found guilty of five of the seven charges against him — aggravated assault by strangulation, indecent recording, obstruction of justice and false official statement — with his premeditated murder charge reduced to unpremeditated murder.
Officials had questioned Copeland over Resendiz’s whereabouts on June 1, while her body was inside his closet. Among the charges, Copeland admitted to strangling another woman aboard the USS Harry S. Truman on July 24, 2024, as well as secretly recording a woman in a bathroom stall and filming another woman during sex without her consent,In addition to his decades-long sentence, Copeland will also receive a dishonorable discharge, forfeit all his pay, have his rank reduced to the lowest for a Navy enlisted — Seaman Apprentice — and will be required to register as a sex offender upon his release.
The plea agreement also required Copeland to sit down face-to-face with Resendiz’s mother, Esmeralda Castle,Castle said the conversation was brief — but she made sure Copeland knew that despite the devastation he caused, he could still work on becoming a better person.
“You still have life,” she recalled telling Copeland to 13News Now. “I’m sorry it’s going to be behind these walls, but you still have life, and even behind these walls, you can still do good things. ”Petty Officer Jermiah Copeland pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with the death of Petty Officer Angelina Resendiz at a general court-martial in Norfolk, Va.
Family Handout Resendiz's body was discovered in a wooded area in Norfolk, about 10 miles off base, on June 9 — 12 days after her disappearance. Officials had questioned Copeland over Resendiz's whereabouts on June 1, while her body was inside his closet.
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