Couple chopped up teen girl, put remains in dumpster: Cops
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Steven Gress, Michelle Brandes and Miranda Corsette

Insets, from left: Steven Gress, Michelle Brandes and Miranda Corsette (St. Petersburg Police Department). Background: Dumpster where Miranda’s body was disposed (WFLA/YouTube).

Authorities in Florida have accused a couple of murdering a teenage girl by suffocating her with a billiard ball before dismembering her and hiding the parts in their car trunk, following a week of alleged torture over a lost ring.

According to documents cited by the Tampa Bay Times, Steven Gress, 35, and his partner Michelle Brandes, 37, were tasked with disposing of the victim’s remains. However, they paused to celebrate Brandes’ birthday first. As detailed in a 25-page warrant from the St. Petersburg Police Department, they reportedly had a meal at Popeyes and enjoyed a round of mini golf at Congo River in Clearwater. After their celebration, the pair allegedly continued to search around Tampa Bay for locations to discard 16-year-old Miranda Corsette’s body.

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Eventually, they found a dumpster near where Gress’ grandparents lived in Ruskin and tossed Miranda’s remains there, the warrant reportedly said. They got lucky: Cops believe the dumpster was taken to a landfill and its contents — including Mirada’s remains — were incinerated. Now prosecutors will have to try and convict the couple without a body.

But helping the state’s case is the fact at least six people saw Miranda with the couple or knew she was being tortured, the warrant seeking to obtain the contents of Gress’ mother’s phone reportedly states. Per cops, Gress was known by neighbors to take disadvantaged women into his home. Miranda, a mother of an 1-year-old child, was a frequent runaway with mental health and drug issues, cops said. Detectives believe Gress and Miranda met on a dating app and took her to his home in mid-February. Gress allegedly spoke to neighbors about the girl and even bragged to them about hurting her.

“This little b—- stole my ring and won’t give it back,” he reportedly said. “So I’ve been beating her a–.”

Gress also allegedly sent nude pictures of Miranda that showed her increasingly worsening injuries to at least three people, including his mother. His mother denied seeing them.

While no one else has been charged, Sixth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bruce Bartlett told the Times “there’s a pretty good likelihood of more to come.” Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Gress and Brandes.

Detectives also questioned a woman who lived with the defendants. She accused Gress of being abusive and he would buy animals off Craigslist and kill them by throwing them off a bridge, the warrant reportedly stated. Not long into Miranda’s stay, he accused her of stealing his ring, cops reportedly wrote. This sparked the weeklong abuse and torture, cops allege. As the alleged torture continued, Brandes said she found the ring. The roommate thought Brandes probably had it all along and took it so he would ditch Miranda, according to the warrant.

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