A Washington state man admits to killing his former girlfriend and her 7-year-old daughter in the head and dumping their bodies down an embankment off a remote road just days after being freed on bond on domestic violence charges and told not to contact his ex.
Kirkland Warren, 28, pleaded guilty on Thursday to the killings of his former girlfriend Meshay Melendez, 27, and her daughter Layla Stewart, according to online court records. Warren also entered an Alford plea — in which a person admits wrongdoing but claims innocence — to first-degree child molestation in the sexual assault of Layla, according to The Columbian. Warren’s trial was expected to start next week.
The investigation began on March 18, 2023, when Vancouver police arrived to the Springfield Meadows apartments in the 4300 block of NE 66th Avenue for a welfare check on Melendez and Layla, according to the agency’s news statement.
Family members said they hadn’t heard from Melendez since March 11, and a friend said she and her daughter hadn’t been home in a few days, and their dog was barking inside the apartment.
Inside the residence, cops discovered the dog but neither the mother nor the girl.
Melendez, Layla, and Warren were found to have stayed at an acquaintance’s residence on March 11. Layla stayed there while Melendez and Warren went out. When Warren returned at 8 a.m., an acquaintance discovered Melendez “passed out” in the passenger seat of his vehicle.
Warren went into the house, grabbed Layla, put her in the car, and drove away, according to authorities.
On March 19, Melendez’s mother discovered her daughter’s automobile, a 2000 Chrysler 200. Police confiscated it and arrested Warren on accusations of interfering with a witness, violating domestic violence orders prohibiting him from contacting Melendez, assault, drive-by shooting, and unauthorized possession of a firearm.
A search of Melendez and Layla’s Dodge Charger, which they were last seen leaving with Warren, showed blood in both the front and rear seats. Police found 22 caliber shell casings, children’s clothing that matched what Layla was wearing on March 12, and a pocketbook holding Melendez’s identity, according to another press release.
Days later, on March 22, a passerby reported seeing two “life-sized mannequins” off a road down an embankment in thick brush near Washougal, a small city on the Oregon border. Deputies responded and found the victims. They’d been shot in the head.
According to court documents revealed in October, Layla was found naked from the waist down. The publication said that DNA swabs taken from her matched Warren’s DNA.
As the case has proceeded, additional information has emerged concerning Warren’s behavior in the days after his and the victim’s disappearance.
According to The Columbian, Warren texted a lady on March 13 and 15 asking where he could bury a gun and querying her about remote regions, citing prosecutors’ evidence.
On March 18, Warren allegedly texted a buddy about wanting to get rid of Melendez’s automobile, writing, “I need to get rid of this stole.”
Investigators also claim he moved $4,200 from Melendez’s account to his own using her phone.
When police investigated Warren’s phone, they discovered Google searches for “how to get blood out of a car seat,” “how to beat murder,” and “killing the only witness,” the newspaper stated.
Warren was free on bond at the time of the deaths on a first-degree murder charge stemming from the 2017 death of a man in Arkansas. He had also been shot in the head, and his body was discovered in a ditch.
Warren was arrested in December 2022 in Washington state for assaulting Melendez and firing a gun into her residence, for which he was released on bond and forbidden from contacting her.
He was freed from detention four days before Melendez and her kid disappeared, according to the Associated Press.
Warren faces a mandatory life term in jail without the possibility of parole for the killings of Melendez and Layla when he is sentenced on October 8.