🚨 Breaking news – A man who murd3red and dism3mbered a 16-year-old girl reportedly laughed as he requested the d3ath pen@lty after adm-itting he lur3d her to his home, but what happened in court has left many sh0cked
A SICKO laughed in court as he pleaded guilty to torturing and killing a 16-year-old girl he met on a dating app in Florida – and demanded the death penalty.
Steven Gress, 37, walked into a Pinellas County courtroom with a smile on his face before admitting to charges in the killing of Miranda Corsette.
Steven Gress talks with the judge in court at the Pinellas County Justice Centre on WednesdayCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
He told the court he “prefers the death penalty”Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
The court heard he felt it was “the right thing to do” – but he maintained that he did not actually kill the victim.
“I did not kill Miranda, but I was involved in certain things that led to her death,” Gress told the judge.
Pictured is Miranda Corsette, 16Credit: ST PETERSBURG POLICE DEPT
Corsette was killed in February last yearCredit: St Petersburg Police Dept
Gress met the teenager on a dating app and lured her to his apartment in St Petersburg on Valentine’s Day last year.
His partner, Michelle Brandes, was waiting for them there.
The pair beat, tortured and sexually assaulted Miranda over the course of a week before eventually killing her over “a stolen ring.”
“This little bi*** stole my ring and won’t give it back, so I’ve been beating her ass,” he told one neighbour who saw the victim at his home, the New York Post reported.
Mugshot of Michelle BrandesCredit: ST PETERSBURG POLICE DEPT
Gress is escorted into the courtroomCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Three other witnesses, including his mother, told the court that Gress had sent them images of Miranda naked, bruised, and in a deteriorating state.
Gress claims that his partner shoved a billiards ball down the girl’s throat and then covered her face with plastic wrap.
He told police when he learned what Brandes did he rushed to poke holes in the plastic to let her breathe, but Miranda had already died.
Gress told the court on Wednesday that he was not fully responsible for her death because she was “free to pull it off her face.”
He said: “I would like to say that I do believe that she killed herself.
“I say that because she had the Saran wrap on her face, but she was free to pull it off her face.”
Police believe Miranda was killed sometime between February 20 and February 24.
Using a chainsaw, Gress then dismembered her body and abandoned it in a dumpster in Hillsborough County, it was alleged.
After entering his guilty plea, he waived his right to a jury trial for the penalty phase of the case.
A pretrial hearing for his penalty phase is scheduled in November.
Meanwhile, a pretrial hearing for Brandes will take place in October.
SOURCE: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/40126588/killer-teenager-death-penalty-florida/