A Pine Bluff man who was released on bail in a 2017 homicide case is considered a person of interest, but is not charged, in the death of a 27-year-old woman said to be his girlfriend and her 7-year-old daughter in Washington state.
It's a scenario that has led to questions in the Pacific Northwest about how a man charged with first-degree murder in a state half a country away could either be free or not held without bail, but prosecutors here have provided some background.
Kirkland C. Warren, now 28, was charged with the lone murder count and abuse of corpse in the Nov. 27, 2017, death of Curtis Urquhart, a 57-year-old man who was missing from Pine Bluff. Warren told state police he pulled out a .22-caliber handgun and shot Urquhart in the head while driving, becoming fearful for his life after Urquhart asked him for money as they left a notary office in Pine Bluff.
According to the affidavit, Warren told the officer he drove around and found a gravel road near Stuttgart, where he dumped Urquhart's body in a ditch. Three men discovered the body Dec. 11. His left hand appeared to have been eaten by animals, the affiant reported.
Warren was arrested Dec. 12, posted bail the next day and was formally charged Feb. 7, 2018.
"Initially when bonds are set, it's based upon a lot of factors including the facts you know about at the time," said Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Hunter, whose 11th West Judicial District covers Jefferson and Lincoln counties. "Here, it was set at $250,000 secured, and it was felt by us and the court obviously that would secure his appearance. It's not unusual; our constitution requires that anyone other than someone charged with capital murder have a bond, and the purpose of that bond is to secure their appearance for court proceedings."
More than five years have passed, and the case has yet to go to trial.Besides complications from the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors and defense lawyers for Warren have filed at least 20 motions combined that have prolonged the case.
The trial is now set for Oct. 23-27, according to Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Cymber Tadlock.
"We certainly want to get this matter to trial," Hunter said. "It's been too long for many reasons, but it's set for trial, and it hasn't gone to trial not for lack of interest by the state. It's been continued because of reasons cases get continued for. This matter has always been one we wanted to take to trial and we still want to take it to trial."
TROUBLE IN THE NORTHWEST
Warren has more than just a trial in Arkansas to worry about.
Tadlock filed a motion to revoke Warren's bail on March 14 of this year after learning of his March 2 arrest in Vancouver, Wash., a suburb of Portland, Ore., on suspicion of second-degree assault, drive-by shooting, harassment, possession of a stolen firearm and false swearing under oath connected to a series of incidents between March 31, 2021, and Dec. 23, 2022. Warren lied on an application that he wasn't under indictment when trying to buy a 9mm semiautomatic gun in Camas, Wash.
Special Judge William R. "Randy" Wright revoked bail March 17.
It was Dec. 23 when Meshay Micole Melendez, 27, told Vancouver police that Warren physically assaulted and shot toward her at her apartment after an argument 10 days earlier, according to court documents.
Melendez, the mother of 7-year-old Layla Stewart, told police she was "too scared during the gunshot to report" and had her friend hang up a 911 call in response to the shooting. She called 10 days later about another assault and told police Warren was "putting his hands on me" but was no longer present, according to a police report.
During a Feb. 17 interview with police, Melendez recanted details of the Dec. 13 incident, explaining she and her friend had mental health and drug issues and that their statements were not reliable. She also asked that Warren not be arrested.
Warren made his first court appearance for the March 2 arrest on March 3. The Clark County, Wash., Superior Court found probable cause for the offenses and set bond at $100,000.
According to court documents, Warren is prohibited from traveling outside Clark County, nearby Cowlitz County and the Portland metropolitan area unless approved by the Superior Court. He is also prohibited from possessing a firearm and is to have no contact with the alleged victim in the case.
Since then, according to the bail revocation motion, prosecutors in Pine Bluff learned from Vancouver police he violated the no-contact order and is charged with a misdemeanor.
"In addition, the defendant has discussed leaving the State of Washington, which would also be a violation of his conditions of release on bond in Clark County, Washington," Tadlock wrote in her successful motion.
PERSON OF INTEREST
According to The Columbian newspaper of Vancouver, Warren was declared a person of interest in the disappearances of Melendez and her daughter on March 21. Melendez and her daughter had last been seen March 12.
The newspaper reported March 22 two bodies were found in a rural area of Washougal, Wash., and they were identified as Melendez and her daughter. A man found what he thought were two "life-sized mannequins" down an embankment in thick brush off Southeast Wooding Road, sheriff's officers told The Columbian.
Warren posted bail March 3, but he was kept in jail until March 6 after contacting Melendez, when he appeared in district court for the no-contact violation charge. That case was dismissed because it was determined those details should go with his Superior Court case, according to The Columbian.
The newspaper reported Melendez's mother reported her and Layla missing on March 18 and found Melendez's car in the VanMall neighborhood of town the next day. Police served a search warrant for Warren's vehicle and residence in the Kevanna Park neighborhood, and he was arrested that same day, it was reported.
Warren was accused of tampering with a witness, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and a protection-order violation in another Superior Court appearance March 20, and prosecutors asked for the bail to be increased from $100,000 to $500,000.
The judge reportedly wanted more information on the new allegations and postponed to the next day, when he found probable cause to hold Warren in lieu of $1 million bail and to require him to wear a GPS ankle monitor. Warren returned to court March 22 to answer to a warrant for the 2017 shooting and abuse of corpse.
Even if Warren posts the $1 million bail from his March 20 charges, he will have to remain jailed in connection with the 2017 homicide. The Columbian reports he refuses to waive extradition to be turned over to Arkansas authorities.
Attempts to reach both of Warren's attorneys, appointed defense lawyer Darquise Cloutier in Washington state and Mark Hampton in Arkansas, were unsuccessful.
SPECIAL JUDGE
Wright, who is presiding over Warren's Arkansas case, revoked bail March 17. He was appointed, Tadlock said, because the attorneys who are now judges knew Warren's father from his days as an attorney and didn't want an appearance of impropriety.
Wright serves as the Eighth North Judicial District judge in Hempstead and Nevada counties, and that adds another wrinkle to a lengthy homicide case in southeast Arkansas.
"We're still required to coordinate with his schedule," Tadlock said. "It's still in our First Division court, but the courtroom has to be available and all that. It's going to be a weeklong trial."
Layla Stewart
Meshay Melendez