The deaths of a Vancouver woman and her daughter are shining a light on the role lawmakers play in protecting victims of domestic violence.
On Wednesday morning, police identified two bodies found in a remote area of Clark County as Meshay Melendez, 27, and her 8-year-old daughter Layla Stewart.
Vancouver police identified Melendez’s boyfriend, Kirkland Warren, as a person of interest, citing prior charges of domestic violence that include shooting at Melendez’s home earlier this month.
On March 6, Warren was released on bail. On March 12, Melendez and her daughter disappeared after last being seen with him.
“I personally would love to see that when we have a high risk or extreme lethality that judges will automatically order offender monitoring for victims,” said Vancouver Police Detective Tanya Wollstein.
In 2020, Wollstein testified in favor of the Tiffany Hill Act, a law that allows courts to order domestic violence offenders to wear GPS ankle devices and send victims notifications if they are nearby.
Court documents show Warren scored a 31 on a danger assessment scale used to determine the risk of lethality to domestic violence victims. Anything 18 or higher is considered an extreme risk.
But under Washington law, judges can only deny bail for capital offenses.
Wollstein thinks it will take the whole community working together -- police, prosecutors, legislators and the public -- to enact legislation that would keep high risk of lethality offenders behind bars.
“This is a big ask,” she said.
“It’s going to require bipartisan support, and, I believe, the public to get behind it because it’s going to require a vote, it’s going to require citizens to say, we want this to be different in domestic violence cases where we have risk of lethality and repeat offenses, and we can show that the offender does pose a significant danger to the victim.”
Warren has not been charged for the murders of Melendez and her daughter, although police are continuing to collect evidence.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, there is help available. You can call 1-800-799-SAFE, or chat with someone online at thehotline.org.