Suspect charged with 'premeditated murder' in death of Navy sailor Angelina Resendiz, family says
The Navy has not yet named the alleged suspect or publicly announced charges.
A suspect, who has been held in pretrial confinement in connection to the death of 21-year-old Navy sailor Angelina "Angie" Resendiz, has been charged with "premeditated murder" in the case, a spokesperson for Resendiz's family told ABC News on Tuesday.
Resendiz, a culinary specialist who was assigned to the USS James E. Williams, was last seen on May 29 at Naval Station Norfolk and her body was found on June 9 near her base, officials said.
The spokesperson for Resendiz's family told ABC News that the Navy shared with Resendiz's mother, Esmeralda Castle, a redacted charging document a few days ago that lists a charge related to her daughter's death.
"She wants to make sure that we go full force [in getting justice]," the family spokesperson said when asked how Castle feels after the suspect was allegedly charged.
"When she knew that her daughter was missing, she knew something was wrong and now we are trying to back-date to figure out what happened," the spokesperson added.
The Navy has not yet publicly announced charges or named a suspect in this case. ABC News reached out to the Navy for comment and to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), which is investigating this case.
Marshall Griffin, an attorney for Resendiz's family, told ABC News on Tuesday that the suspect charged in Resendiz's death will appear in court on Sept. 18 in Norfolk for an Article 32 hearing, which "focuses on the rights of the accused." Griffin said that Castle plans to attend the hearing.
The charge comes after NCIS confirmed to ABC News in June that they are investigating Resendiz's death in coordination with other agencies, including Navy leadership.
"A Navy Sailor has been placed in pretrial confinement in connection with the death of Seaman Resendiz. Charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are pending," NCIS told ABC News in a statement on June 26.
"If and when charges are preferred by the Navy's Office of Special Trial Counsel (OSTC), NCIS will issue an updated statement to announce those charges and refer any further military justice-related questions to OSTC," a spokesperson for NCIS told ABC News in a subsequent statement on July 31. "All Sailors are presumed innocent until their guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. Out of respect for the investigative process, NCIS will not comment further while the investigation remains ongoing."
Resendiz, who is from Mexia -- a city in central Texas that is located about 30 miles outside of Waco -- was stationed at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia and was last seen on May 29 at around 10 a.m. at her barracks in Millner Hall at the the Naval Station in Norfolk, according to a June 3 missing person's alert issued by the Virginia State Police.
NCIS announced Resendiz's disappearance in a June 6 statement and urged anyone with information related to her disappearance to contact the agency.
In a June 10 statement, NCIS announced that the Norfolk Medical Examiner's office confirmed that a body discovered by NCIS on June 9 in a wooded area in Norfolk belonged to Resendiz.
Resendiz's cause and manner of death were both ruled "undetermined," a spokesperson for the Chief Medical Examiner's Office at the Virginia Department of Health confirmed to ABC News on Aug. 27.
Asked about the findings of the autopsy, family attorney Marshall Griffin told ABC News that he was "not surprised," given the condition of Resendiz's remains.
Castle, who has accused the Navy of mishandling her daughter's disappearance, said during a press conference in June that her daughter's body was left exposed for days and was not properly preserved or prepared for viewing.
"She was covered, she was infested with maggots, with bugs and decaying. They didn't preserve her body," Castle said, according to ABC affiliate WVEC.
When asked, the Navy did not comment on Castle's claims.
Virginia Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner urged the Navy in a July 30 letter to provide information to Congress about the circumstances surrounding Resendiz's death and explain whether they followed procedures in returning her remains.
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