A Washington man admits to killing his ex-girlfriend and her 7-year-old daughter in the head and dumping their bodies down an embankment off a remote road days after he was released on bond for domestic violence and told not to contact her.
Online court documents say Kirkland Warren, 28, pleaded guilty Thursday to killing his ex-girlfriend Meshay Melendez, 27, and her daughter Layla Stewart. The Columbian reported that Warren accepted an Alford plea to first-degree child molestation in Layla’s sexual assault. Warren was to be tried next week.
According to Law&Crime, Vancouver police responded to the Springfield Meadows apartments in the 4300 block of NE 66th Avenue on March 18, 2023, to check on Melendez and Layla’s wellbeing.
Family members had not heard from Melendez since March 11, and a friend said she and her kid had not been home for a few days and their dog was howling in the apartment.
Inside the residence, cops found the dog but not the mother or youngster.
Melendez, Layla, and Warren stayed at an acquaintance’s house on March 11, investigators learned. Layla stayed while Melendez and Warren left. Warren returned about 8 a.m. and found Melendez “passed out” in his passenger seat.
Police said Warren entered the home, took Layla, put her in the car, and left.
Melissa Melendez’s mother recovered her 2000 Chrysler 200 on March 19. Warren was arrested for interfering with a witness, violating domestic violence orders that prevented him from contacting Melendez, assault, drive-by shooting, and handgun possession.
Melendez and Layla left in a Dodge Charger with Warren, and blood was found in the front and back seats.22-caliber shot casings, children’s clothing that matched Layla’s March 12 outfit, and Melendez’s identity pocketbook, police added in another news release.
Days later, on March 22, a bystander in Washougal, a small community bordering Oregon, reported two “life-sized mannequins” falling off a roadway down an embankment in thick vegetation. Deputies found the victims. Shot in the head.
Layla was found naked from the waist down, according to October court filings, according to the Columbian. Her DNA matched Warren’s, the newspaper reported.
Warren’s actions in the days after he and the victims disappeared have been uncovered as the case progresses.
Prosecutors told The Columbian that Warren contacted a lady on March 13 and 15 about places to bury a gun and quiet areas.
Warren texted the pal on March 18: “I need to get rid of this stolo.”
He moved $4,200 from Melendez’s account to his using her phone, investigators claimed.
In Warren’s phone, authorities found Google searches like “how to get blood out of a car seat,” “how to beat murder,” and “killing the only witness,” the newspaper stated.
The deaths occurred while Warren was on bond for first-degree murder in the 2017 death of an Arkansas man. He was shot in the head and found in a ditch.
Warren was arrested in Washington state in December 2022 for assaulting Melendez and firing a gun into her apartment. He posted bail and was forbidden from contacting her.
The Associated Press stated that he was released four days before Melendez and her daughter disappeared.
Warren faces a mandatory life sentence without parole for the deaths of Melendez and Layla on Oct. 8.