"Restoring safety" is what mother of Brownsville sailor wants

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — U.S. Navy Sailor Angelina Resendiz, whose body was found earlier this month near her base in Virginia, was laid to rest today in Brownsville.

She received military honors, and a vigil was held in her memory in what was a very solemn ceremony, as Angelia’s mother, Esmeralda Castle, calls the whole situation unimaginable.

Prior to the vigil, traffic stood still for a few minutes in Brownsville as a hearse transported Resendiz to the Brownsville Events Center for a vigil.

Some of the most powerful moments were when Resendiz’s sister spoke about who Angelina was and a letter from U.S. Senator John Cornyn was read out loud, mentioning how he will do more about servicemembers who disappear.

However, the most resounding moment was when spokespeople for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Castle spoke about wanting justice, and the whole room applauded and raised the candles they had.

“I think for me justice would be restoring something, something that is not there anymore," Castle said. "Restoring safety. I mean you have the criminal aspect of it right now and that is somebody that caused a harm but isn’t just about the person that caused the harm but about the entity that allowed it to happen.”

During the vigil, she also offered a small speech to attendees and said that he hope is for something like this to never happen again. However, even though she wants action and justice, she says a lot of work needs to be done.

"I don't what change looks like but what does it take, what are the steps, what does it feel like to have the change and know that our families that go in the service are safe, are protected," Castle said. "We can yell, scream and rage against the machine, but it is going to take hard work and some real action to do what it is should be done."

Castle says she constantly talked and texted with her daughter before her death and is even more fond of her as she has learned a lot from military members on how her “shy”, “goofball” kid did so much in her short career.

She says the Navy Crime Investigative Services (NCIS) has not told her anything about Angelina's cause of death, but Valley Central knows a suspect, Jeremiah Copeland, is in custody in connection with the case.

Castle shared that in her last conversation with Angelina, she was very hopeful for the future and her dreams.