PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – The family of Meshay Melendez and her daughter Layla Stewart will bury them together Wednesday, nearly one month after they were found dead in a Washougal ditch on March 22.
The invite-only funeral will take place at 3 p.m. at Evergreen Memorial Gardens in Vancouver, where Melendez, 27, and Stewart, 7, will be buried together in one casket.
Michelle Bart, the president of the National Women’s Coalition Against Violence and Exploitation, spoke on behalf of the family while raising donations on the family’s GoFundMe – which has so far collected more than $20,000.
“Thank you to everyone that has helped with the burden of burying the only daughter and granddaughter of our client,” Bart said.
The pair had been found with what a medical examiner said were gunshot wounds to the head.
Kirkland Warren, the man charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Melendez and Stewart, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment hearing on Monday.
Authorities say Warren was seen driving away from a Vancouver apartment on March 12 with the mother and daughter inside a Dodge Charger. Police arrested Warren on March 19.
According to prosecutors, a cell phone later seized from Warren revealed a trip from the location of the bodies to Warren’s address on March 13, and blood, bullet casings, and clothing believed to be Stewart’s were found inside his car.
“We know he is guilty, there is no shadow of a doubt in any of the family’s mind,” Bart said.
Warren’s next court date is scheduled for May 23.
Stay with KOIN 6 as this story develops.
