More than three months after the murder 21-year-old Navy sailor Angelina “Angie” Resendiz, the sailor accused of killing her now faces charges that stretch far beyond murder, and her family is pushing for accountability.
Resendiz, a culinary specialist from Mexia, Texas, was last seen on May 29 at Naval Station Norfolk. At first, officials believed she may have gone absent without leave, but on June 9, her body was discovered in a wooded area just ten miles from the base. Her remains were badly decomposed, and the Virginia medical examiner later ruled her cause and manner of death “undetermined.”
The Navy has now charged fellow sailor Jermiah Copeland, a cook from Oak Harbor, Washington, with premeditated murder, sexual assault, and a slate of related crimes, according to Military.com and Stars and Stripes. The charge sheet also accuses him of making false statements, obstructing justice, and even wrongfully distributing intimate photographs. Copeland has been in pretrial confinement since June.
For Resendiz’s mother, Esmeralda Castle, the charges only sharpen the demand for justice. She has described the devastating days of searching for her daughter and the anguish of receiving her remains. “She was covered, she was infested with maggots, with bugs and decaying. They didn’t preserve her body,” Castle told a local TV station. She has criticized how the Navy handled the case and says her daughter’s death—and the aftermath—deserve closer scrutiny.
Resendiz’s case has caught the attention of Virginia’s senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, who sent a letter to Navy leaders in July pressing for details about how the investigation was handled and whether procedures were properly followed when her body was returned.
Meanwhile, Copeland is scheduled to appear in court on September 18 for an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will present evidence to determine if the case should move forward to trial.
Family friends say that from the beginning, Castle knew something was wrong when her daughter didn’t check in. “When she knew that her daughter was missing, she knew something was wrong and now we are trying to back-date to figure out what happened,” a spokesperson told ABC News.
Resendiz’s death has exposed the tension between the Navy’s internal justice process and the grief of a family seeking transparency. She was young, ambitious, and far from home—pursuing a military career when her life ended in violence. The unanswered questions about how she died, and why, remain almost as painful as the crime itself.
As Castle put it, the fight now is about ensuring no other family endures what hers has. “She wants to make sure that we go full force in getting justice,” her spokesperson said.
