2nd Suspect In Dismemberment Of Missing Teen Arrested: St. Pete Police

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The second suspect in the killing and dismemberment of a missing Gulfport girl turned herself in Saturday morning, St. Petersburg police said.

Michelle Brandes, 37, was charged with first-degree murder in the kidnapping and death of 16-year-old Miranda Corsette.

Her domestic partner, Steven Gress, was previously arrested and charged in the girl’s murder.

The teen was lured on Feb. 14 to their St. Petersburg home, where she was eventually killed and dismembered, by Gress, authorities said.

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After meeting him that first time, Miranda went home and then returned to his duplex the next day. She was reported missing to the Gulfport Police Department on Feb. 24.

The girl was beaten during a Feb. 20 dispute and then killed sometime between Feb. 20 and 24, police said.

Gress put the teen's body in a car and drove to a house on Mallory Drive in Largo.

Evidence at the Largo home indicates her body was dismembered, driven to Hillsborough County and put in a dumpster at 2893 14th Ave. SE in Ruskin, police said. Detectives found the dumpster and are working to find the body.

Gress, who was already jailed on unrelated charges, is in custody. He was arrested on March 5 for pointing a harpoon at Brandes and for possessing drugs.

He also faces a kidnapping charge in Miranda’s disappearance and more charges are expected, police said.