A Florida couple is behind bars after they allegedly lured a teenage girl they met online to their home, tortured and suffocated her to death over a piece of missing jewelry, and dismembered her body before disposing of her remains in a dumpster.

Steven Gress, 35, and his girlfriend Michell Brandes, 37, stand accused of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette. The St. Petersburg Police Department said in a press release Friday that Gress picked up the girl on Feb. 14 after meeting her on a dating app and took her to his home in the 2700 block of 27th Ave. N. After hanging out that day, he drove her back to her home. Miranda returned to his home the next day, but this time she would not make it out alive.

More from Law&Crime: ‘F— you, he is not going to bite me’: Boyfriend ‘jealous’ of 5-year-old getting ‘too much attention’ beat him to death for being ‘disrespectful,’ police say

St. Petersburg police Chief Anthony Holloway told reporters at a press conference that there was a dispute over some missing jewelry on Feb. 20. Gress and Brandes allegedly assaulted and tortured Miranda for the next week.

“Repeatedly beat the victim, while holding her captive for seven days and eventually suffocating her by wrapping plastic wrap around her face,” a judge said during Gress’ first appearance, according to local NBC affiliate WFLA.

Gress and Brandes then put the teen’s body in his car and drove the remains some 15 miles to a home in the 12000 block of Mallory Drive in Largo. There, police believe she was dismembered. Her remains were once again moved, this time to a dumpster about 55 miles away across Tampa Bay. Cops have located the dumpster, however the remains were disposed into a Hillsborough County landfill. Cops are continuing to search for Miranda’s body.

Miranda’s grandmother, who had custody of her after both of her parents died, reported her missing to Gulfport police on Feb. 24. Gulfport police commander and acting chief Mary Farrand said her department is “very familiar” with Miranda, who is a “frequent runaway” with a history of mental health issues and drug abuse. She also was the mother of a 11-month-old child. Her grandma told police Miranda was known to run away and she’d usually return home, but not this time.

On Thursday, a “witness” contacted police regarding information about a kidnapping and homicide. Police realized they already had Gress in custody after he allegedly pointed a harpoon at Brandes and was in possession of drugs. Detectives quickly unfurled the horrific case. Brandes turned herself into cops on Saturday.

A respiratory therapist at a Missouri hospital filmed his female co-workers using the bathroom using a pen with a hidden camera built into it, he admitted as part of a plea agreement.

Gabrielle Vanriette, 40, pleaded guilty on Feb. 27 to invasion of privacy. According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, cops responded to the North Kansas City Hospital on Sept. 14, 2023, for a call about a recording device found in an employee bathroom. The charge nurse told detectives with the North Kansas City Police Department that she was using the bathroom when she saw a pen on a plastic storage tote facing the toilet.

A Republican candidate for a Kentucky state representative seat has been arrested after he was allegedly caught on a Walmart surveillance camera putting his hands on the neck of a 17-year-old boy who nearly hit his son with a ball in a store aisle.

Brian Ormes, 53, faces charges of first-degree strangulation, menacing and assault in the fourth degree, online jail records show.

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Constitutional Law

Did DC Circuit ‘put an asterisk next to’ decision denying Trump immunity? Court keeps case on speedy path but implies limits

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 7, 2024, 12:49 pm CST

The prosecution of former President Donald Trump for trying to overturn the 2020 election could stay on a speedy path as a result of deadlines set Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The appeals court said Trump must file any request for a stay of its immunity decision with the U.S. Supreme Court by Feb. 12, report the Washington Post, CNN, Just Security and the New York Times.

If Trump instead seeks a hearing before the full appeals court, the case can still return to the trial judge after Feb. 12, the appeals court indicated.

The appeals court’s Feb. 6 opinion held that Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election were not part of his official duties, and he did not have immunity.

“We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power—the recognition and implementation of election results,” the D.C. Circuit said. “Nor can we sanction his apparent contention that the executive has carte blanche to violate the rights of individual citizens to vote and to have their votes count.”

The appeals court concluded that the interest in criminal accountability outweighs the potential risks of chilling presidential actions. The D.C. Circuit cautioned, however, that its analysis “is specific to the case before us.” In the eighth footnote, the appeals court added, “We do not address policy considerations implicated in the prosecution of a sitting president or in a state prosecution of a president, sitting or former.”

A columnist for the Washington Post noted the “specific to the case” wording and concluded that the appeals court is “trying to put an asterisk next to its ruling. It is hinting—as the Supreme Court hinted in Bush v. Gore—that this is an extraordinary case and that in other cases, the same logic might not apply.”

The per curiam opinion was written by Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, and two appointees of President Joe Biden, Judge J. Michelle Childs and Judge Florence Y. Pan. Biden had once considered Childs for a Supreme Court nomination.

If Trump asks the Supreme Court to hear the case, and the high court agrees, the Supreme Court could act quickly, or the justices could take their time, the New York Times reports.

One possibility is for the Supreme Court to grant the stay, with or without limitations. If there is no time limit, Trump would have 90 days to file a cert petition, according to Just Security. Or the Supreme Court could place a time limit on the stay, which would dissolve unless Trump files a cert petition within the time period.

Another possibility is for the Supreme Court to treat a stay application as a petition for certiorari and grant immediate review.

“We consider this a more likely option,” according to Just Security.

If the Supreme Court requires expedited briefing, oral arguments could be in March, and an opinion might be issued a month later, the blog said.

If Trump loses and a trial happens in July, it could conclude by October.

“Of course, it is within the Supreme Court’s power not to enforce an expedited appellate schedule,” Just Security pointed out. “If so, they could conceivably wait until the end of this year’s term in late June to issue its decision. Under that approach, the trial would not begin until approximately Oct. 1 and would not conclude until around Jan. 1, 2025.”

A man shot his girlfriend in his pickup truck and then tried to put her body in a dumpster, but after a couple of attempts he quit, left her next to the dumpster, and drove to a psychiatric hospital to admit himself, according to cops in the city of Millcreek, Utah.

Officers said that the incident is the “culmination of an elongated violent domestic violence history” between the defendant, Fred Jason Edwards, 46, and victim, Esperanza Chavez, 25.

According to a press release obtained by Law&Crime, officers received a call Saturday at 6:20 a.m. regarding a body found near a dumpster at 3994 South 300 West. They found Chavez dead at the scene.

“Detectives initiated their investigation, canvassing the area for surveillance footage,” they wrote. “A business in the vicinity provided crucial footage showing a black truck arriving at 12:28 am today. The male figure was observed pulling a body from the vehicle. Attempts were made to dispose of the body in the dumpster, however the suspect left the scene, leaving the victim beside the dumpster.”