Navy Petty Officer Jermiah Copeland pleaded guilty Monday to the unpremeditated murder of 21-year-old Seaman Angelina Resendiz, admitting in military court that he strangled the fellow sailor inside his barracks room at Naval Station Norfolk and later buried her body in a wooded area of Norfolk in 2025.
Copeland, who served alongside Resendiz aboard the destroyer USS James E. Williams, entered guilty pleas to five charges, including unpremeditated murder, obstruction of justice, aggravated assault by strangulation, indecent recording and making a false official statement.