The sailor awaiting trial for the murder of fellow U.S. Navy service member Angelina Petra Resendiz allegedly assaulted several other people before taking her life, according to the attorney for Resendiz’s family.
Culinary Specialist Seaman Jermiah Taylor Copeland was charged Aug. 22 with premeditated murder in the death of Resendiz, 21, a fellow culinary specialist seaman, who was reported missing May 29 from Naval Station Norfolk. She was found dead nearby nearly two weeks later.
Copeland faced a Navy Article 32 preliminary hearing Thursday at Norfolk Region Legal Service Command, Virginia, where new facts in the case came to light.
“The government’s [suggested] motive is basically that he was in a lot of trouble and he knew that he had a lot of cases coming,” said Marshal Griffin, a former Coast Guard JAG officer representing Resendiz’s mother, Esmerelda Castle. “The theory is that he tried to do something with Angelina, and she rebuffed him.”
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Resendiz made a call to a friend around 1 a.m. the day she disappeared, Griffin said, in which she was apparently panicked and asking to be picked up. The government’s theory was that Copeland thought he might get in trouble again, according to Griffin, so he decided to take her life.
The forensic evidence presented during the hearing claimed that Copeland murdered Resendiz in his barracks and kept her remains in a briefcase or duffel bag stowed away in his closet for four or so days, Griffin told Military Times.
Copeland’s Apple Watch also tracked health biometric data that showed a spike in heart rate at odd times in the night, Griffin said.
The government presented another shocking revelation, Griffin said. A command representative who was trying to figure out why Copeland hadn’t reported for work May 29 claimed to have seen and interacted with Resendiz in Copeland’s room the night before, according to Griffin.
The chief petty officer allegedly stated that Copeland met him at the door and explained that Resendiz had been having a hard time and had come over. The individual recalled that Resendiz waved to him from the bed, rolled over, and went to sleep, Griffin said.
Griffin told Military Times that it was unthinkable that a chief petty officer would enter a barracks room, spot a female sailor in the bed of another sailor and not address that situation.
“It’s just really hard to hear that there was an opportunity right there for a chief to either save her life or discover this crime to prevent her from being, like, hidden in a field,” Griffin said. “He could have prevented a lot of misery and pain.”
In addition to Resendiz’s murder, Copeland was also charged with crimes against other women that occurred since his enlistment in the Navy on July 13, 2023.
He was charged with aggravated sexual contact, abusive sexual contact and aggravated assault through strangulation for a crime that occurred in the summer of 2024 on board the USS Harry S. Truman, according to a charge sheet provided to Military Times by a Navy Region Mid-Atlantic spokesperson.
Copeland was charged with two other counts of sexual assault for two separate incidents that happened while he assigned to the USS James E. Williams, one of which took place in November 2024 and the other in May 2025. He was also charged with two counts of domestic violence for an incident that occurred in April 2025.
In addition, Copeland faces charges of wrongful broadcast, indecent recording, indecent broadcasting, three counts of obstruction of justice and two counts of making a false official statement.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
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