A 21-year-old Navy culinary specialist will spend the next four decades in federal prison after admitting he strangled a fellow sailor to death in the barracks, attacked a second woman aboard an aircraft carrier, and secretly recorded a third during intimate moments.
Jermiah Copeland pleaded guilty during a military court proceeding this week to the unpremeditated murder of Angelina Resendiz, also a culinary specialist. Investigators believe Copeland killed Resendiz in his barracks room at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia, concealed her body in his closet for several days, then dumped her remains in nearby woods roughly 10 miles from the base. Her body was discovered two weeks after she was last seen alive.
During the two-day hearing, Copeland acknowledged strangling Resendiz after an evening spent drinking and kissing in his room turned violent. He told the military judge he killed her after she became upset by a phone notification, then later lied to Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents by claiming he had brought her back to her own quarters alive.
Beyond the murder conviction, Copeland confessed to compressing the neck of another woman aboard the USS Harry S Truman in July 2024 and illegally recording a third woman in a bathroom stall as well as during a sexual encounter.
The sentence includes 44 years at the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, plus a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay, demotion, and lifetime sex offender registration. Prosecutors dismissed additional charges in exchange for his guilty plea.
During sentencing, a forensic psychologist testified that Copeland endured childhood sexual abuse and other trauma. However, the evaluation did not determine whether those experiences motivated him to kill Resendiz. Copeland's own grandmother, Kathy Brown, testified that while the family loved him, they did not condone his actions and believed he deserved accountability.
Resendiz, a native of Mexia, Texas, came from a town she never left behind. Her mother, Esmeralda Castle, has since become an advocate for military reform, meeting with congressional representatives, state lawmakers, and national organizations to push for better protections for women in uniform. Castle ran unsuccessfully for the Texas state legislature in May on a platform centered on safeguarding female service members.
"It's about people, about compassion, community, resilience and hope," Castle told ABC News of her efforts.
The case echoes the 2020 murder of Army soldier Vanessa Guillén at a Texas base, which prompted sweeping military policy changes on sexual assault and harassment. Resendiz's family is calling for similar institutional reforms to prevent future tragedies.
Author James Rodriguez: "Copeland's guilty plea closes one chapter, but Castle's push for military-wide change is the real story here, and one that needs urgent attention."
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