Navy Sailor Admits To Killing Fellow Service Member. Her Mom Claims Officials Missed Warning Signs

Interesting guilty, killing, navy, prison admin June 9, 2026 0 Comments

Navy Sailor Admits To Killing Fellow Service Member. Her Mom Claims Officials Missed Warning Signs

A Navy sailor admitted to strangling a fellow service member, ending a case her mother said the military could have prevented.

Culinary Specialist 3rd Class (CS3) Jeremiah Copeland pleaded guilty to the unpremeditated murder of CS3 Angelina Resendiz during a general court-martial Monday, USNI News reported. Detectives suspect the sailor killed his colleague in the barracks. He admitted to strangling her. The two had served together aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS James E. Williams.

“I killed CS3 Resendiz on May 29, 2025… I strangled her with my hands,” Copeland told the military judge.

Copeland admitted to other crimes as well, according to USNI News. He pleaded guilty to making a false official statement amid the case surrounding Resendiz, assaulting a second victim by strangulation and indecently recording another. Prosecutors agreed to drop the counts he contested under the plea deal. (RELATED: Judge Sentences Former Navy Sailor Convicted Of Espionage To Prison)

Copeland faces no less than 40 years and two months at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, Stars and Stripes reported, citing the plea agreement. His sentence also carries a dishonorable discharge and forfeited pay. He will be demoted to seaman apprentice and has to register as a sex offender.

Copeland already faced accusations before the killing, according to Stars and Stripes. He faced allegations of raping a sailor in November 2024 aboard the USS Harry S. Truman. Months earlier, in July 2024, he allegedly sexually assaulted another service member and tried to strangle her. A separate rape charge involving a Norfolk civilian was filed in May 2025 just days before Resendiz vanished, according to court records.

The victim’s mother, Esmi Castle, found relief in the admission but alleged that Navy leaders did not properly address previous allegations against Copeland.

“This situation was absolutely preventable,” she said ahead of the trial, according to Stars and Stripes, arguing that leaders in the Navy “should be facing criminal charges or be removed from service.”

“If they would have dealt with him when he started harming women, he would never have gotten to Angie,” Castle said, according to Fox News Digital.

Castle said she spoke with Copeland afterward and hopes he changes. “He still can choose better,” she continued.

The Navy has rejected any suggestion that it mishandled the case, Stars and Stripes reported. Castle also took the witness stand, testifying she refuses to let bitterness or hatred control her, according to WAVY.