Vancouver man sentenced to life in 2023 murders of ex-girlfriend, her daughter

Editor’s Note: This story includes details of child sex abuse that may be disturbing for some readers.

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The Southwest Washington man who pleaded guilty in September to killing his ex-girlfriend and her daughter last year has been sentenced.

On Tuesday afternoon, a Clark County judge sentenced 28-year-old Kirkland Warren to life in prison.

He pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree aggravated murder and one count of second-degree murder in the deaths of 27-year-old Meshay Melendez and seven-year-old Layla Stewart on Sept. 5. He also pleaded guilty to the first-degree child molestation of Stewart.

Melendez and her daughter were last seen near Vancouver Mall Drive and Northeast 77th Avenue early on March 12, 2023. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office discovered their bodies nearly 10 days later in a rural Washougal ditch.

Shortly before on March 19, Warren had been identified as a person of interest in their disappearance, and arrested on charges of tampering with a witness, illegally possessing a firearm and violating a domestic violence order that aimed to protect Melendez months prior.

The medical examiner’s office reported the mother was found with a single gunshot to the left temple with a small caliber gun, similar to a .22. Stewart was found with two bullet wounds to the head from the same gun.

Authorities said the man had also been identified as the person of interest for an unconnected crime in Arkansas, where he was indicted for murder and abuse of a corpse.

Warren initially pleaded not guilty to the murders of Melendez and Stewart at an arraignment in mid-April 2023. Later in November, he was arraigned on an additional charge of child rape.

Court documents revealed that Stewart was discovered naked from the waist down, prompting the medical examiner to perform swabs of her lower body. The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab linked Warren’s DNA to the samples that were collected from the child.

Several family members were given a chance to tell the court and Warren what these deaths meant to them as the room filled with open sobbing. Warren held his head down low, showing little to no emotion.

"I can't even make any more memories. The seven years was all I had," said Stewart's aunt, Lashay Gates outside the courthouse. "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."

"I'm glad that he is getting a consequence that will never amount to the pain and suffering that me and my family and loved ones have felt," said Melendez's brother, Ricardo Melendez.

The judge said because Washington no longer has the death penalty, he could only sentence Warren to spend the rest of his life in prison.

This is a developing story.