NORFOLK, VA. — Seaman Jermiah Copeland is scheduled to appear in a two-day military court hearing on June 8–9, 2025, at Naval Station Norfolk, where he is expected to enter guilty pleas in the killing of 21-year-old Sailor Angelina Resendiz. Resendiz, a culinary specialist stationed at the same base, disappeared in May 2025 and was found dead 11 days later in a wooded area near Broad Creek.
The hearing replaces what had previously been expected to be a two-week military trial. Navy court records confirm the revised dates and format. “The case is docketed for trial,” Marshall Griffin said. “I believe they were planning on a two-week trial, and that has been amended to a two-day hearing, which we believe will be a plea hearing where the accused will enter guilty pleas to some or all of the charges.”
Griffin, who represents Resendiz’s mother, Esmeralda Castle, cautioned that the plea remains tentative. “The plea isn't official until he enters it, and then it's not final until the judge accepts it,” he said. “In the military, there's a lot of contingencies, so it very much is a tentative situation at this point.” Military courts require a providency inquiry, in which an accused service member must explain why they believe they are guilty before a plea can be accepted.
Griffin said the government presented “a substantial amount of evidence” during the preliminary hearing to establish probable cause. “Her main desire is she does not want other military families to have to go through the same thing,” he said. If accepted, a plea agreement could carry a sentence of at least 40 years in prison.