NORFOLK, Va. — The disappearance and death of Norfolk-based sailor Angelina Resendiz sparked a push for more accountability and transparency from the U.S. Navy. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) held a press conference Friday, alongside the sailor's family's legal counsel, to further this push for action.
The press conference was held at Naval Station Norfolk. Resendiz's mother, Esmeralda Castle, was there to rally for accountability and transparency from the Navy.
Watch: Full LULAC press conference pushing for more action in Angelina Resendiz case
"We are here to ensure that Angelina Resendiz is not reduced to a report," LULAC spokesperson Danitza James said. "We are here to ensure that her life and her loss compels change, permanent."
The trial for Jermiah Copeland, the sailor accused of killing Resendiz, is expected to begin in June 2026 and last about a month. Copeland faces charges for murder, sexual assault, aggravated assault, sexual misconduct, domestic violence, wrongful broadcast or distribution of an intimate visual image, obstructing justice and making a false official statement.
Norfolk
TIMELINE: Everything we know about the death of Angelina Resendiz
On June 3, 2025, Virginia State Police issued a Critically Missing Adult Alert for Resendiz. Navy documents later revealed that Resendiz did not report for duty on May 30. Trial counsel claimed that Resendiz made a distressed phone call to a friend on May 29, which they say was the last time anyone heard from her alive.
In a previous interview with News 3, Castle said this disappearance was very out of character.
"My kid is missing, and she wouldn't just unauthorized leave without permission. Angie’s too scared to miss work; she wouldn’t do that; something is wrong," Castle said.
At the time, she told News 3 that she had questions that the Navy wasn't answering.
Nearly nine months later, she said she still has concerns about the investigation that haven't been addressed.
“I’m not gonna say I’m surprised, right? I hope for the best. I want what is right, but it is what it is. This is a pattern that we see," said Castle on Friday, referencing previous, but similar cases involving military women.
On June 9, Norfolk police and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) responded to a body found in a wooded area behind Richard Bowling Elementary School. The following day, a family spokesperson confirmed that Resendiz was found dead. In the same statement, the family called on Virginia Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, the Hampton Roads congressional delegation, and President Donald Trump to “address the systemic issues that allowed her to vanish without justice since May 29, 2025.”
Watch related: Navy timeline provides more details on hours, days following Resendiz's disappearance
The statement also notes that Castle was “horrified to realize that she was not properly notified through official channels and that, instead, she was only informed unofficially by her daughter’s staff and media coverage.”
That same day, NCIS confirmed that a sailor was being held in pretrial confinement in connection with Resendiz's death, with charges pending. It would later be confirmed that Copeland was the sailor that had been detained. Copeland and Resendiz were both culinary specialists assigned to the USS James E. Williams.
Watch: True Crime 757 podcast recaps the case of Angelina Resendiz
After a Navy Article 32 hearing, court officials recommended there is enough evidence for the murder case against Copeland to proceed to trial, according to a U.S. Navy public affairs official.
