![Kirkland C. Warren (left), 28, appears in Clark County (Wash.) Superior Court on suspicion of tampering with a witness, violating a no-contact order and unlawful possession of a firearm in this March 21, 2023 file photo. The Vancouver, Wash., Police Department on Friday, March 31, 2023 announced that Warren had been charged in the deaths of Meshay Micole Melendez (left inset), 27, and her daughter, Layla Stewart, 7, both of Vancouver. Police say Melendez was Warren's ex-girlfriend. Warren is also a suspect in a Nov. 27, 2017, homicide and abuse of a corpse in southeast Arkansas. (Main, The [Vancouver, Wash.] Columbian/Becca Robbins; insets, courtesy photos)](https://wehco.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2023/04/02/Warren_Stewart_Melendez_t800.jpg?90232451fbcadccc64a17de7521d859a8f88077d)
A man from Pine Bluff charged with killing a 27-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter in Washington state pleaded innocent to four new counts related to an alleged protection order violation earlier this week, according to a Vancouver, Wash., newspaper.
Kirkland C. Warren, 27, is being held in lieu of $1 million bail in the Clark County, Wash., jail on charges of tampering with a witness (one count), second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm (one count) and a protection-order violation (two counts). The Columbian newspaper reported Warren pleaded innocent to all counts.
The bail was upgraded from $100,000 and was connected to a series of incidents between March 31, 2021, and Dec. 23, 2022. Warren was arrested Dec. 13, 2022, on charges related to an alleged domestic violence incident that, police say, Meshay Micole Melendez, 27, reported 10 days earlier but later recanted.
The charges are tied to a drive-by shooting case in which Warren is alleged to have shot at Melendez's apartment, according to the newspaper. Warren previously pleaded innocent to five counts related to domestic violence and false swearing on a gun application, it was reported.
Warren is accused of stating that he wasn't under indictment when trying to buy a 9mm semiautomatic gun.
Warren is booked on two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Melendez and her daughter Layla Stewart, 7, both of Vancouver. Their bodies were found in a rural area near Washougal, Wash., on March 22. They were last seen March 12, and Warren is accused of killing them between March 12-15, The Columbian reported.
In Arkansas, a special judge for Jefferson County Circuit Court first division, William R. "Randy" Wright, on March 17 revoked a $250,000 bail for Warren from first-degree murder and abuse of corpse charges related to the Nov. 27, 2017, death of Curtis Urquhart, 57. Warren posted bail Dec. 13, 2017, and was formally charged Feb. 7, 2018.
Police said Warren told them he shot Urquhart in in the head after becoming fearful for his life as they left a notary office in Pine Bluff. Warren is alleged to have told investigators he dumped Urquhart's body in a ditch off a gravel road near Stuttgart.
Even if Warren posts the $1 million bail, he will remain jailed in Washington state, according to a previous article in The Commercial. His trial in Urquhart's death is scheduled for Oct. 23-27 in Pine Bluff.