Man Accused of Torturing, Murdering Girl He Met on Dating App Might Face Death Penalty – ryan

A Florida man could face the death penalty if convicted of murdering a minor he met through the LGBTQ dating app Grindr.

Steven Gress, 35, is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with the death of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette.

A search warrant obtained by PEOPLE alleges that Corsette met with Gress at his home in St. Petersburg on Feb. 14 after the pair chatted on Grindr, and then returned the following day.

Ten days later, on Feb. 24, Corsette was reported missing to the Gulfport Police Department.

On that day, Gress allegedly told detectives he dismembered and decapitated Corsette’s corpse before tossing her remains in a dumpster, according to the warrant.

At the time of her death, Corsette had been beaten on a daily basis for a week, says the warrant. Gress allegedly told police he had sent photos of the teenager’s worsening injuries to a few acquaintances and his own mother.

One of the individuals who received those alleged images from Gress shared them with members of the St. Petersburg Police Department, who described the photos in the warrant.

“There was a total of five photographs and in each photograph Corsette looked to be in increasingly worse physical condition,” the warrant alleges. “Corsette was nude in each photograph and had bruises and marks on most of her body. In the last photograph, Corsette’s head was so swollen that she was almost unrecognizable.”

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In his interview with detectives from the SPPD, Gress allegedly confessed to beating the teenager after suspecting her of stealing his ring.

“Gress stated that for the better part of a week he ‘lumped her up,’” the warrant says. “Gress stated that he explained to Corsette he had just gotten out of prison, and he had never had anything of his own, so the ring was very special to him and he was not willing to let her steal it from him.”

He also claimed that he pleaded with Corsette to get his ring back but she would just “mock him,” according to the affidavit.

At some point, Gress called his girlfriend, Michelle Brandes, 35, and asked her to help him retrieve his ring. She allegedly began beating Corsette as well and, according to claims by both Gress and a third roommate who often stayed at the home, Brandes ultimately killed the girl.

“Brandes took a ball from a pool table in the backyard, put it in a sock and shoved it down Corsette’s throat and then wrapped her face in plastic wrap,” the affidavit reads. “Gress stated that he told Brandes not to cover the nose, but Brandes did and he couldn’t get to Corsette quick enough to poke holes in the plastic before she died.”

That third roommate also alleged to police that Gress was “very abusive” and “would find disadvantaged women and girls who were either homeless or addicted to drugs” when trying to pick up women, says the warrant.

In her interview with police, the third roommate also said that “she felt Brandes had taken the ring in order to get Gress to not like the girl because she was jealous,” according to the warrant.

On Feb. 23, the third roommate traveled with Gress, Brandes and Corsette’s corpse to the home of Brandes’ mother, the warrant says. Once there, Gress allegedly decapitated and dismembered Corsette’s body while Brandes placed the remains in trash bags.

On Feb. 24, the three travelled to a Popeye’s restaurant and a miniature golf course to celebrate Brandes’ birthday with Corsette’s remains in the trunk of the car, the third roommate alleged to detectives seeking a search warrant.

According to the affidavit, the trio then drove to the census-designated place of Ruskin to dispose of the body. In total, they drove about 50 miles with the teen’s body in the car, authorities say.

The affidavit claims that the third roommate told police that “one or two days after Miranda Corsette’s body had been disposed of, Brandes came to her and said he had found Gress’ ring in his car but she was afraid to give it back to him.”

She then allegedly told the detectives that “she felt Brandes had the ring all along.”

Both Brandes and Gress are now behind bars on charges of both murder and kidnapping, and the prosecuting attorney has announced he intends to seek the death penalty in both cases.

In a notice filed in court, State Attorney Bruce Bartlett of the Sixth Judicial Circuit of Florida outlined her rationale for why he believes the defendants deserve the death penalty if convicted on all charges.

The judge has yet to rule on this notice.

Both defendants are set to be arraigned on April 24.