NORFOLK, Va. — The sailor accused of killing Angelina Resendiz appeared in court for the final time Friday before he pleads guilty next week.

The accused, Petty Officer 3rd Class Jermiah Copeland, is expected on Monday to plead guilty in a Navy court to killing Resendiz, as well as to other counts related to assaults on four other women between 2024 and 2025.

Resendiz, a culinary specialist assigned to the USS James E. Williams, disappeared from the barracks at Naval Station Norfolk on May 29, 2025, and was found dead 11 days later in the Broad Creek neighborhood of the city. Prosecutors alleged Copeland killed Resendiz at the barracks in the early hours of May 29 and hid her body in a duffel bag, which he stashed in a closet. They said he used a friend’s car to move her remains and left them in a wooded area behind Richard Bowling Elementary School, where they were found June 9.

At issue Friday was the defense’s motion on what his attorneys claim is Copeland’s illegal pretrial confinement at the Naval Consolidated Brig in Chesapeake. According to his attorneys, Copeland has been held in maximum custody since he was detained last June. On the first day of his trial, he will have spent exactly one year in 22 hours per day of solitary confinement.

One of his attorneys, Lt. Todd Mihill, said that Copeland’s time in solitary confinement had affected the sailor’s mental health and ability to work on his defense.

Mihill said Copeland had been impacted by his time in restrictive detention, and at one point punched a wall out of frustration.

“We’re here to talk about treating someone like a human being,” Mihill said Friday.

His attorneys are seeking three-for-one time served in addition to the year of pre-trial confinement time served as relief for the alleged illegal confinement. If granted, Copeland will receive a total of four years off of his sentence, to be determined after he pleads guilty.

His attorneys said Friday that the commanding officer of the Chesapeake brig, Brian Flanagan, overrode the points system used to determine custody status in order to keep Copeland in maximum custody.

Mihill called thedecision “arbitrary,” arguing that for months, Copeland scored under the threshold for maximum custody. He cited Flanagan’s testimony in December’s hearing that his decision to keep Copeland separate from the general population arose in part from the high-profile nature of the case and concerns that Copeland’s presence would cause an unsafe situation.

Mihill said Friday that Flanagan’s decision was made with his “gut,” and there was “no evidence to suggest” solitary confinement for over a year was “appropriate.”

The prosecution argued that the nature of the charges categorized Copeland as a violent offender, and said recent behavior by Copeland in custody meant Flanagan’s “read” on him was “correct.”

Navy judge Capt. Frank Hutchison took the motion under advisement and will rule prior to sentencing.

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