АНУ-ын Флорида мужийн оршин суугч, 16 настай охиныг хулгайлж, хөнөөсөн хэрэгт буруутгагдаж буй Стивен Гресс шүүх хурлаасаа татгалзаж, цаазаар авах ялыг хүлээн зөвшөөрөх хүсэлтээ шүүгчид илэрхийлжээ.
Пинеллас тойргийн шүүхэд лхагва гарагт болсон сонсголын үеэр 37 настай Стивен Гресс шүүх хуралдаанаас зайлсхийж, аль болох хурдан ял сонсох хүсэлтэй байгаагаа мэдэгдсэн байна. Тэрээр хамтран амьдрагч Мишель Брандесийн хамт өнгөрсөн оны хоёрдугаар сард Grindr аппликейшнээр дамжуулан 16 настай Миранда Корсеттийг гэртээ урин авчирч, хулгайлан тамлаж хөнөөсөн хэрэгт буруутгагдаж байгаа юм. Шүүгч Филип Федерико сэжигтнийг өөрийн хүсэлтээ бүрэн ухамсарлаж байгаа эсэхийг нягтлахын тулд сэтгэцийн болон эрүүл мэндийн үзлэгт оруулахаар шийдвэрлэжээ.
Хэргийн мөрдөн байцаалтын явцад Гресс болон Брандес нар бие биенээ буруутгасан мэдүүлэг өгсөн байна. Грессын мэдүүлснээр, Брандес охины ам руу биллиардын бөмбөг чихэж, нүүрийг нь хуванцар хальсаар боож амьсгалыг нь боогдуулсан гэжээ. Үүний дараа тэрээр цогцсыг хөрөөдөн хувааж, хогийн саванд хийн устгасан гэх ноцтой баримтууд шүүхэд дэлгэгдсэн байна.
Гресс нь 2025 оны гуравдугаар сарын 5-нд Брандесийг зэвсгээр заналхийлсний улмаас баривчлагдсан бөгөөд хамтран амьдрагч нь гурав хоногийн дараа цагдаад бууж өгсөн юм. Грессын өмгөөлөгч Ж.Эндрю Кроуфорд үйлчлүүлэгчийнхээ шийдвэрт саад болохгүй гэдгээ мэдэгдсэн байна. Гресс ирэх наймдугаар сарын 19-нд дахин шүүх хуралд оролцох бөгөөд тэр хүртэл эрүүл мэндийн үзлэгт хамрагдах юм.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
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A Florida man who kidnapped, murdered, and dismembered a 16-year-old girl told a judge that he wants to waive his trial and be executed.
Steven Gress, 37, made the unusual request to Pinellas County Judge Philip Federico during a hearing on Wednesday morning, The Tampa Bay Times reports.
A grand jury indicted Gress and his domestic partner and co-defendant, Michelle Brandes, for the first-degree murder of Miranda Corsette, a 16-year-old they met on the dating app Grindr. He and Brandes allegedly kidnapped and tortured the girl for a week before they killed her.
“I’ve been ready to plead guilty to this since last April,” Gress said during Wednesday’s hearing. “I’ll take the death penalty; I don’t want to go to trial.”
The judge questioned Gress to ensure he understood the gravity of what he was requesting.
Gress explained that he wanted to “get out of jail as soon as possible” and be transferred to a prison. He said he also wants to avoid going to a trial or sitting for a penalty phase with a jury.
His defense team did not object to his decision.
“Whether he wants to waive mitigation and a jury is his choice, not ours,” J Andrew Crawford, Gress’s attorney, said in a statement.
The judge ruled that Gress would have to undergo a medical review to ensure his competence before he would be permitted to waive his trial.
Prior to his courtroom confession, both Gress and his co-defendant, Brandes, entered not guilty pleas. However, the couple reportedly turned on each other during the police investigation, painting each other as the primary aggressor in the events that led to Miranda Corsette’s death.
Last Valentine’s Day, Gress used the Grindr app to lure Miranda to his home in St. Petersburg. She visited him again the day after. At some point in the following days, Gress became convinced that the teenager had stolen a ring from his house.
He and Brandes allegedly kidnapped the girl and beat her for approximately a week.
“This little b**** stole my ring and won’t give it back,” Gress reportedly told one of his neighbors, according to the warrant. “So I’ve been beating her ass.”
Three other witnesses, including Gress’s mother, told the court that he had sent them images of the girl nude, bruised, and in a deteriorating physical state.
Gress claims that Brandes shoved a billiards ball down the girl’s throat and then covered her face with plastic wrap. He told police when he learned what Brandes did he rushed to poke holes in the plastic to let her breathe, but Miranda had already died.
The couple then allegedly transported Miranda’s body to Largo, where Gress dismembered it with a chainsaw. He then placed her remains in garbage bags and left them in a dumpster in Ruskin, after which they were likely incinerated.
Gress was ultimately arrested on March 5, 2025, when he allegedly threatened to shoot Brandes with a harpoon gun after she tried to leave his apartment during an argument.
Brandes surrendered to police three days later. While Gress had painted Brandes as responsible for killing Miranda, she and another woman who lived with Gress told police that he frequently beat them and killed animals he adopted from Craigslist.
Gress is expected to return to court on August 19. It is unclear what day he will undergo his medical evaluation to ensure his fitness to waive his right to a trial.
