U.S. Navy Petty Officer Jeremiah Copeland was sentenced to 44 years behind bars for strangling a fellow service member, 21-year-old Culinary Specialist 3rd Class Angelina Resendiz, in his Virginia barracks room last year.
Copeland was sentenced on Wednesday at a general court-martial after pleading guilty to the unpremeditated murder of Resendiz and other charges related to her death, Fox News reported.
“Copeland, who was previously assigned to the USS James E. Williams, will also receive a dishonorable discharge, forfeit all pay and allowances, be reduced in rank to Seaman Apprentice and be required to register as a sex offender upon his release,” according to the report.
His sentencing comes days after he admitted in court to strangling Resendiz on May 29, 2025. Copeland admitted to killing her in his barracks room at Naval Station Norfolk “after the two had been drinking and she became upset over something she saw on his phone,” USNI reported of his testimony, per Fox News.
Investigators discovered Resendiz’s remains in a wooded area near Norfolk after the Naval Criminal Investigative Service conducted a ten-day search. Copeland was subsequently arrested.
“Petty Officer Copeland deserves to be held fully accountable for his heinous actions that resulted in the tragic murder of Petty Officer Resendiz,” NCIS Norfolk Special Agent in Charge Emily Schmid said in a statement Wednesday.
Resendiz’s mother, Esmi Castle, previously told Fox News Digital she believes military leaders missed chances to intervene before her daughter was murdered. She argued that Copeland had faced prior allegations from other women and should have been more strongly disciplined.
“If they would have dealt with him when he started harming women, he would never have gotten to Angie,” Castle previously told the outlet.
Castle said her daughter had been working to advance her career as a Navy culinary specialist and hoped to cook for world leaders and presidents one day, according to the report.
Castle said that despite her concerns surrounding her daughter’s case, she found some closure after hearing Copeland admit to her murder.
“I thanked him for telling the truth,” she told the outlet after his guilty plea.
