EDITOR'S NOTE: The following contains graphic details. Discretion is advised.
According to recently released court records, at least six people knew or saw a Gulfport teenager being held against her will and tortured inside a St. Petersburg duplex before she was killed, yet no one called the police.
Steven Gress, 35, and Michelle Brandes, 37, are facing a first-degree murder charge for the death of Miranda Corsette. Court records indicate prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty.
St. Pete Police said the investigation began in early March when a witness reported a possible kidnapping and homicide regarding a missing Gulfport teen.
ABC Action News obtained a search warrant which details the murder investigation.
A search warrant said detectives spoke with a female resident who lived at the St. Pete duplex on 27th Avenue North with Gress and Brandes. The woman was previously in a sexual relationship with Gress, but now Gress and Brandes were romantically involved. She stated Gress wanted an open relationship and Brandes was jealous.
She told police Gress would find disadvantaged women and girls who were either homeless or addicted to drugs. She stated that Gress was very abusive to both she and Brandes and would kill animals he got from Craigslist.
The female resident stated that Gress had a ring that went missing, and Gress was furious, so he called Brandes over to help him get his ring back from Miranda. The female resident told police she felt Brandes had taken the ring to get Gress not to like the girl because she was jealous.
The female resident told detectives over the course of several days that, Gress had beaten Miranda, and on Sunday night, February 23, 2025, Brandes placed plastic wrap around Miranda’s face. She stated Gress had told Brandes not to cover her nose, but Gress realized Brandes covered the mouth and nose.
Gress was already in the Pinellas County jail after police said he threatened Brandes with a harpoon gun. The murder investigation began shortly after his arrest.
Court records indicate that Gress initially did not want to speak to detectives but later changed his mind.
Gress started off by stating, “this was never supposed to happen.” Gress said he met Miranda on an app called “Grindr” on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2025. Gress told police Brandes was beating Miranda and he would go to CVS to buy her medication to help her heal.
Gress said Brandes took a ball from a pool table in the backyard, put it in a sock, shoved it down Miranda’s throat, and then wrapped her face in plastic wrap. Gress stated that he told Brandes not to cover her nose, but she did.
After she died, he told detectives Brandes and another individual went with him to a home in Largo. He used a chainsaw to dismember her body, according to court records.
Gress told detectives the other individual stayed in the house the whole time and was aware of what was happening outside. Gress stated that he and Brandes loaded the garbage bags containing Miranda’s remains into his vehicle.
WATCH: Court records indicate several people knew or saw Gulport teen being held captive at home in St. Petersburg
“Miranda was dismembered at that location. They then placed her in the car, drove her down to Ruskin where they dumped her in a dumpster,” said Chief Anthony Holloway during a press conference in March.
St. Pete Police have not located the teen’s remains.
Court records also said Gress told detectives that he would get animals from various places, mostly from Craigslist, and that he would kill them.
Gress told detectives that during the week he was torturing Miranda, he was sending photographs of what he was doing to several people.
We reached out to the St. Petersburg Police Department to see if anyone else could face charges for the teen's murder. A spokesperson told ABC Action News, "the investigation is ongoing."
"If there had just been a trooper up there, maybe this whole thing could have been avoided."
A judge in Florida is sharing the story of his son's death in hopes of helping the Florida Highway Patrol trooper shortage.
