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A Washington man has been sentenced after he pleaded guilty to killing his ex-girlfriend and her seven-year-old daughter.
On Tuesday (October 8), 28-year-old Kirkland Warren was sentenced to life in prison without parole in connection to the March 2023 shooting deaths of his ex-girlfriend, Meshay Melendez, 27, and her daughter, Layla Stewart, 7, per PEOPLE.
Melendez and Stewart were last seen alive on March 12, 2023 in Vancouver, Washington. An acquaintance told investigators that they saw Melendez "passed out" in the passenger seat of Warren's car. According to police, Warren then took Layla from inside the acquaintance's home, put her in the car, and drove off.
The mother and daughter's bodies were found 10 days later in a rural area in Washougal, Washington. The discovery was made after a person called police to report a sighting of two "life-size mannequins."
Autopsy reports determined that Melendez and Stewart were shot with the same gun. The child was found with two bullet wounds to the head and Melendez had a single gunshot wound on her left temple.
Warren pleaded guilty in September to first-degree aggravated murder and second-degree murder.
According to court documents, the seven-year-old girl was also found naked from the waist down. Samples from her body were linked to Warren.
Authorities alleged that Warren raped the child before killing her and her mother. He was also charged with first-degree child molestation, for which he entered an Alford plea. "The plea means Warren accepts the conviction while simultaneously maintaining his innocence," per PEOPLE.
Stewart's aunt, Lashay Gates, spoke out about the deaths of her loved ones outside the courthouse on the day of Warren's hearing.
“I can’t even make any more memories. The seven years was all I had,” Gates said. “And it’s all because of Kirkland Warren. And I want him to suffer every single day. I want him to be hurt like I’ve been hurt.”
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