A man from Pine Bluff has pleaded guilty to the 2023 murders of a 27-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter in Washington state and has agreed to plead guilty to the 2017 murder of a man near Stuttgart.
Kirkland C. Warren, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder of Meshay Melendez and aggravated first-degree murder of Layla Stewart. The trial in their deaths was to begin Sept. 9 in Clark County, Wash., Superior Court, but Warren entered a guilty plea on Sept. 5.
The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver, Wash., near Portland, Ore., also reported Warren entered an Alford plea to first-degree child molestation of Layla. In an Alford plea, the defendant pleads guilty but maintains innocence without going to trial for a related charge.
In Arkansas, Warren was charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in connection with the Nov. 27, 2017, death of Curtis Urquhart, 57. He accepted a joint offer from the two states to plead guilty to the respective charges in exchange for the death penalty taken off the table in Arkansas and his sentence in Arkansas to run concurrent to his sentence in Washington. It is not clear when Warren will plead guilty to the charges in Arkansas, but he will do so through Zoom from Washington.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Warren will be sentenced in Washington on Oct. 8 and faces life in prison for the murder charges. According to the motion to plead guilty, the sentences must run consecutively.
Warren was booked on two counts of first-degree murder in the Clark County jail following Melendez’s and Layla’s deaths on or about March 12, 2023, when Melendez’s mother reported her missing, according to The Columbian. Their bodies were reportedly found 10 days later in a rural area near Washougal, Wash., 17 miles east of Vancouver. The local medical examiner’s office determined the victims died from gunshot wounds to the head, according to The Columbian.
On March 17, 2023, Arkansas 11th West Circuit Court special judge Randy Wright revoked a $250,000 bail for Warren in connection to Urquhart’s death. Warren posted bail the following month and was formally charged in February 2018.
According to Pine Bluff police, Warren told them he shot Urquhart in the head after he feared for his life as they left a notary office in the city.
Messages seeking comment were left for 11th West Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter, chief deputy prosecuting attorney Cymber Tadlock and defense attorney Mark F. Hampton, listed as Warren’s lawyer in Arkansas. John C. Terry, Warren’s defense attorney in Washington, said the plea deal “speaks for itself” and declined to comment further.
Warren was held on $1 million bail, upgraded from $100,000, in Washington after facing four additional charges in Melendez’s and Layla’s deaths — tampering with a witness, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, and two counts of violating a protection order. Warren had pleaded innocent to those counts, connected to incidents between March 31, 2021, and Dec. 23, 2022.
Toby Krauel, a senior deputy prosecutor for Clark County, told The Columbian he offered the plea deal because it would allow the victims’ family to have closure without going into the difficult details of the case.
Warren had many run-ins with the law in Washington state since, according to a timeline from The Columbian:
He was reportedly investigated for possessing a stolen semiautomatic handgun in 2020 and surrendered it.
He reportedly lied on an application to buy a 9mm semiautomatic handgun from a store in Camas, Wash., on March 31, 2021, when he had a pending murder case. The application was denied.
Melendez called 911 and reported Warren assaulted her on Dec. 23, 2022. She also reported he shot at her balcony window as she looked outside. Although a friend is said to have corroborated her statement on Feb. 3, 2023, Melendez reportedly recanted it 14 days later and claimed she and her friend have dealt with mental health and drug issues.
Warren was arrested March 2, 2023, and appeared the next day in Superior Court on suspicion of second-degree domestic violence assault, drive-by shooting, making a false statement, harassment and possession of a stolen firearm. Warren was ordered held on $100,000 bail. On March 21, 2023, nine days after the deaths of Melendez and Layla, Warren’s bail was increased to $1 million and he was ordered to wear a GPS ankle device if released.
Layla Stewart
Meshay Melendez