In an emotional sentencing hearing Tuesday, Jeremiah Copeland read a statement accepting responsibility for killing 21-year-old Angelina Resendiz. His mother and grandmother also took the stand to apologize to Resendiz’s mother, Esmeralda Castle, who spoke after the sentencing.
“This is the person that, you know, that he took her life, and he's looking me in my eyes and saying that he's sorry, and, and I accept it…that's it,” Castle said.
Copeland’s mother, Rochelle Brown, said she would like to continue to reach out to Castle over the decades while her son remains in prison.
“Words can’t even explain how much this will impact our family,” she said.
Aside from his immediate family, Copeland has a four year old son, whom he has met once.
“There is no excuse for what I did,” Copeland said, reading a statement in open court.
Copland pleaded guilty Monday to unpremeditated murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of 40 years under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. He also pleaded guilty to a count of aggravated assault involving strangulation, indecent recording, filing a false statement and obstruction of justice. He could have received a maximum of 46 years. Judge Capt. Frank Hutchison sentenced him to 44 years, minus the one year the sailor spent in the brig.
Resendiz was killed May 29, 2025. In court, the prosecutors laid out how the culinary specialist went to Copeland’s barracks room to cook a meal that evening and he ultimately strangled her to death. At one point, he undressed her body and laid with her so it would appear she was sleeping, which gave him more time to hide her body. He stuffed her body in a suitcase and four days later hid the suitcase in a wooded area in Norfolk.
Copeland had recently transferred to the USS James Williams, where Resendiz was stationed. At the time of the transfer, Copeland was under investigation for sexual assault allegations from two separate incidents during his time on the carrier USS Harry S. Truman.
In the last year, Resendiz’s mother has become an advocate for reforming the Navy’s process for handling sexual assault and missing persons.
“For me today, this is just completion. We're still not done. This isn't justice. This is a process, and justice is when everyone is safe, and that this doesn't happen again. And if it does happen again, they have an avenue for accountability,” Castle said.
She has been asking the Navy for an independent investigation into her daughter’s case to determine why the search took so long and why Copeland was allowed to be transferred to a new ship while he was under investigation, she said.
