The suspects in the dismemberment of a Florida teenager could be handed the death penalty for their crime against the 16-year-old girl, officials said.
The two individuals in question were identified as 35-year-old Steven Gress and his 37-year-old girlfriend Michelle Brandes. The former is accused of luring the victim, identified as Miranda Corsette, through a social media application in February the couple allegedly killed her a week after.
Potential Death Penalty
Authorities arrested the couple last month and charged them with first-degree murder for the brutal killing of Corsette. Additionally, Gress was charged with kidnapping but he has pleaded not guilty to both charges against him.
The Se. Petersburg Police Department, the teenage girl was staying with the couple after being lured to their home on Feb. 14, 2025. Corsette was reported missing to the Gulfport Police Department on Feb. 24, 2025.
Investigators said that there was a dispute that happened on Feb. 20, 2025, where the couple allegedly beat the teenage girl. Arrest affidavits filed for the suspects claim that they "repeatedly beat" and tortured the teenager while holding her captive for a week, according to NBC News.
The couple is believed to have eventually suffocated Corsette by stuffing a billiard ball into her mouth and wrapping the teenage girl's face with plastic wrap. So far, officials have not stipulated what led to the dispute between the three but noted that the couple "felt the victim had stolen a ring."
Court documents revealed that the defendant and co-defendant in the case dismembered the body of the teenager and left her remains in a dumpster in Ruskin, Florida. Authorities initially arrested Brandes last month and charged her with the murder of Corsette.
Repeated Beating
A warrant revealed that at the time of the teenage girl's death, she was beaten daily for a week. Gress also told police that he sent photographs of the victim's worsening injuries to a few of his acquaintances as well as his mother, People reported.
One of the people who received the images also shared the photos with members of the St. Petersburg Police Department. The warrant alleges that there were five photos and in each one Corsette looked to be in increasingly worse physical condition.
After the couple was arrested last month, State Attorney Bruce Bartlett of the 6th Judicial Circuit of Florida filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against the suspects. He cited the "especially heinous, atrocious" nature of the crimes that the couple are accused of committing, as per AOL.
