Why murder defendant was free before killings

SEATTLE — Kirkland Warren was out on bail pending a long-delayed murder trial in Arkansas. But when he was arrested in southwestern Washington state early this month on charges that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend and fired a gunshot into her apartment, he quickly posted bond and was released again.

Just a few days later, his ex-girlfriend, Meshay Melendez, 27, and her 7-year-old daughter, Layla Stewart, vanished. Police named Warren a person of interest in their disappearance.

The discovery of their bodies in thick brush down a road embankment on Wednesday has raised questions about why someone facing a murder charge in another state would be released from custody after being arrested for a serious domestic violence offense.

Cymber Tadlock, the deputy prosecutor who handled Warren’s case in a 2017 killing in Jefferson County, Arkansas, said the Vancouver Police Department in Washington notified her on March 2 that they had arrested Warren for drive-by shooting and other charges, stemming from an incident in December. They also told her the next day that Warren had a court appearance and his bail was set at $100,000.

It wasn’t until March 14, after she had received official paperwork from Clark County, Washington, that she filed a motion to revoke Warren’s bail in the 2017 murder case. In the meantime, he posted bail and was released from custody March 8 — four days before Melendez and her daughter vanished.

Had his Arkansas bail been revoked sooner, it’s possible Warren would have remained in custody as a fugitive pending his extradition to face trial in Arkansas. But Tadlock said the time it took to obtain an order revoking his bail was typical.

“I wish everything could happen more quickly,” Tadlock told The Associated Press. “I wish his murder case could have been resolved by now. It’s had delay after delay, and now it’s had a tragedy.”

Even before a man walking his dog reported seeing what resembled two “life-sized mannequins” in a rural area east of Washougal, Washington, on Wednesday morning, the family and friends of Melendez and Stewart had asserted the criminal justice system let them down.

Melendez’s brother, Miguel Melendez, and stepdad, Kendrick Taylor, along with Stewart’s grandfather, told The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver that they couldn’t believe Warren had been released on bail after shooting at her apartment, especially considering his pending murder trial in Arkansas.

But except in cases of aggravated murder, Washington law presumes someone will be released from custody until they are tried and convicted. Courts can impose conditions — such as bail or electronic monitoring — to help ensure public safety and to keep defendants from fleeing.

Complicating matters is that when Warren was released, he was not ordered to wear a GPS ankle bracelet — despite a recent state law that allows courts to order people accused of domestic violence to wear them. Under that law, the victim can use a mobile phone app to be alerted if their abuser is near. Police receive the notifications as well and can respond.

Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Kim Kapp said Friday that officers were concerned about Warren being released at all, considering the danger he posed. Kapp said the department may urge lawmakers to make the GPS bracelets mandatory for domestic violence defendants deemed high risk.

Warren was charged with killing an acquaintance in his vehicle in 2017 and leaving the body in a roadside ditch. He told police the passenger was asking him for money and he shot him because he feared for his safety.

His family got him released from custody pending trial by putting up 10% of his $250,000 bond, said his attorney in that case, Mark Hampton, and Warren subsequently moved to Washington state with the knowledge of his lawyer and prosecutors.

The case has been delayed pending psychological evaluations, discovery disputes, the pandemic and most recently by a fall that Hampton’s 91-year-old mother took, resulting in a broken hip.