Navy Sailor Sentenced for Murder of Fellow Service Member
A Navy sailor has received a 44-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the murder of 21-year-old Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Angelina Resendiz in his barracks on May 29, 2025.
This sentencing came shortly after Private Sergeant Jamia Copeland admitted in court to strangling Resendiz during an altercation fueled by alcohol. According to his testimony, things escalated when Resendiz reacted negatively to something she saw on his phone, leading to a physical confrontation.
Copeland described how, while drinking in his barracks, a phone notification provoked an intense reaction from Resendiz. He stated that after telling her to be quiet, he pushed her down and strangled her until she was dead.
The discovery of Resendiz’s body followed a 10-day search initiated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which ultimately led them to a wooded area near Norfolk, where they apprehended Copeland.
“Private Sergeant Copeland must take full responsibility for his heinous actions that resulted in the tragic murder of Private Sergeant Resendiz,” said Emily Schmidt, NCIS Norfolk Special Agent in Charge.
Along with his prison sentence, Copeland faces additional repercussions, including dishonorable discharge, loss of pay and benefits, demotion to seaman’s apprentice, and mandatory registration as a sex offender after his release. Other serious charges, such as premeditated murder and additional sexual assault allegations, were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea.
Prosecutor Lauren Mayo characterized Copeland’s actions as premeditated and deliberate, asserting, “He chose this path.”
The case also highlighted Copeland’s troubling history, which included a pattern of violence—ranging from a sexual assault aboard the USS Harry S. Truman to another instance of rape in Norfolk just days before Resendiz’s murder. Although military prosecutors dropped some of these charges in a plea deal, the timeline sparked significant public outrage.
Family concerns grew over the investigation’s delays, particularly as the Navy initially categorized Resendiz as absent without leave (AWOL), leading to criticism from her family and raising questions in Congress about the military’s approach to missing service members.
For Esme Castle, Resendiz’s mother, the incident underscores systemic failures. She believes the tragedy could have been avoided had the Navy taken earlier actions against Copeland for his prior offenses.
“If they had taken action when he started harming women, he would never have gotten close to Angie,” Castle remarked. “Today is just a completion. It’s not over yet. This is not justice. This is a process. Justice is that everyone is safe and that this never happens again.”
Despite her frustrations with how the military handled the case, Castle found a semblance of closure from Copeland’s admission of guilt.
“I thanked him for telling the truth,” she shared after his guilty plea.
Resendiz had aspirations of becoming a culinary expert in the Navy, with dreams of competing in elite culinary competitions and cooking for world leaders, according to her mother.
