SEATTLE — Kirkland Warren was out on bail pending a long-delayed homicide trial in Arkansas. However when he was arrested in southwestern Washington state early this month on costs that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend and fired a gunshot into her condo, he rapidly posted bond and was launched once more.
Just some days later, his ex-girlfriend, Meshay Melendez, 27, and her 7-year-old daughter, Layla Stewart, vanished. Police named Warren an individual of curiosity of their disappearance.
The discovery of their our bodies in thick brush down a highway embankment on Wednesday has raised questions on why somebody dealing with a homicide cost in one other state could be launched from custody after being arrested for a critical home violence offense.
Warren was the final individual seen with the mom and daughter earlier than they disappeared, based on charging paperwork. On the evening of March 11, a buddy informed police, she had been babysitting Stewart when Warren arrived to select her up. Melendez was unresponsive within the automotive, bare from the waist down.
The buddy reported Melendez lacking on March 18. Melendez’s mom additionally reported her lacking, saying the household had not heard from her for per week. The following day, police arrested Warren once more. Along with his bail in Arkansas revoked, and his bail in Washington elevated to $1 million, he has been in custody since.
Cymber Tadlock, the deputy prosecutor who has dealt with Warren’s case in a 2017 killing in Jefferson County, Arkansas, stated the Vancouver Police Division in Washington notified her on March 2 that that they had arrested Warren for drive-by capturing and different costs, stemming from an incident in December. Additionally they informed her the subsequent day that Warren had a courtroom look and his bail was set at $100,000.
It wasn’t till March 14, after she had acquired official paperwork from Clark County, Washington, that she filed a movement to revoke Warren’s bail within the 2017 homicide case. Within the meantime, he posted bail and was launched from custody March 8 — 4 days earlier than Melendez and her daughter vanished.
Had his Arkansas bail been revoked sooner, it’s attainable Warren would have remained in custody as a fugitive pending his extradition to face trial in Arkansas. However Tadlock stated the time it took to acquire an order revoking his bail was typical.
“I want every little thing might occur extra rapidly,” Tadlock informed The Related Press. “I want his homicide case might have been resolved by now. It’s had delay after delay, and now it’s had a tragedy.”
Even earlier than a person strolling his canine reported seeing what resembled two “life-sized mannequins” in a rural space east of Washougal, Washington, on Wednesday morning, the household and pals of Melendez and Stewart had asserted the felony justice system allow them to down.
Melendez’s brother, Miguel Melendez, and stepdad, Kendrick Taylor, together with Stewart’s grandfather, informed The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver that they couldn’t imagine Warren had been launched on bail after capturing at her condo, particularly contemplating his pending homicide trial in Arkansas.
However besides in instances of aggravated homicide, Washington legislation presumes somebody will likely be launched from custody till they’re tried and convicted. Courts can impose situations — reminiscent of bail or digital monitoring — to assist guarantee public security and to maintain defendants from fleeing.
Warren was charged with killing an acquaintance in his car in 2017 and leaving the physique in a roadside ditch. He informed police the passenger was asking him for cash and he shot him as a result of he feared for his security.
His household obtained him launched from custody pending trial by placing up 10% of his $250,000 bond, stated his lawyer in that case, Mark Hampton, and Warren subsequently moved to Washington state with the data of his lawyer and prosecutors.
The case has been delayed pending psychological evaluations, discovery disputes, the pandemic and, most just lately, by a fall that Hampton’s 91-year-old mom took, leading to a damaged hip.
Vancouver police beforehand investigated Warren in 2020 for possession of a stolen gun, and in 2021 for mendacity on a federal type required to buy a firearm by saying he was not dealing with felony costs, based on courtroom data.
Beneath Arkansas authorized guidelines, judges should discover cheap trigger that the defendant has dedicated a felony earlier than revoking bail, based on Tadlock, who stated “we needed to have a discovering by one other courtroom” as a result of the allegations occurred in one other jurisdiction.
Warren’s March 2 arrest stemmed from a December incident throughout which police stated he assaulted Melendez after which fired a gunshot into her condo. He has pleaded not responsible to these costs and he has not been charged to this point within the deaths of Melendez or Stewart.
At Warren’s preliminary courtroom look on March 3, prosecutors famous he posed an excessive threat to Melendez, The Columbian reported. The courtroom had set bail at $100,000 and ordered him to don’t have any contact together with her.