Florida Man Who Allegedly Dismembered Teen Demands Dating App Evidence

Florida prosecutors are seeking the. death penalty against a couple accused. of luring a teen through a dating app, [music] holding her captive, torturing. her, and ultimately killing her before. allegedly dismembering her body and. trying to get rid of the pieces. But. attorneys for at least one of the. defendants say if the [music] state is. going for the death penalty, they're. going to need to see some of the most. confidential [music] records. Plus, the. defense contends a critical piece of. evidence is being withheld. We're going. to break down this brutal case and the. law with Florida trial attorney [music].

Alexis Rosenberg. Welcome to Sidebar. presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. Before we jump into this real quick, while I have you, I got to tell you. about Upside. Okay, this is great. It's. our sponsor. It is the app that gets you. cash back on daily essentials like gas. and groceries. It is so easy. It is. free. I can use it when I go pump my. gas. I can use it when I go to a. convenience store. I can use it when I. get a bite to eat. And yes, this is. right, real cash back. After you spend,

money appears in your Upside account. that you can then transfer straight to. your bank account. So, here's what you. do. You download the Upside app for. free. You buy whatever you plan to. purchase. You pay as usual with a debit. or credit card. You file a claim in the. app and just like that, money back. So, to find out how much you could save with. Upside, click the link in the. description or scan the QR code on. screen, but make sure to use our promo. code Sidebar because you can get an. extra 25 cents back on every gallon on. your first tank of gas. In February this. year, 16-year-old Miranda Corset. reportedly went into the home of. 35-year-old Steven Gres and never came.

back out again. Police alleged that Gres. and his girlfriend Michelle Brandis used. the dating app Grinder to lure the teen. mom to Gres's home in St. Petersburg, Florida. This was February 14th, Valentine's Day. She reportedly spent. the day with Gres, returned to her own. home where she lived with her. grandmother because both of her parents. are deceased. And the next day, Miranda. apparently returns to Gres's home where. she would allegedly be trapped inside, forced to endure almost a full week of.

abuse. According to a release from the. St. Petersburg Police Department. Investigators believe that Miranda was. killed sometime between February 20th. and 24th. Miranda's grandmother also. reported her missing around that time, reportedly telling police in Gulfport. that Miranda was a frequent runaway, but. had always come home. But this time it. was different. Police would eventually. determine that Miranda was killed at the. St. Petersburg home, then driven to a. home in nearby Largo where Brandis's.

mother had lived. The couple reportedly. dismembered Miranda and then drove the. remains to a dumpster in Ruskin. Her. body has never been recovered and it is. believed that her remains ended up in an. incinerator. This is according to. reporting from outlet WTSP. Then you go to March 6th. A witness. contacted police and said that they had. information about a possible kidnapping. and homicide involving a missing teen. And at this point, Gres was already in.

custody for unrelated crimes, and. Brandice had turned herself in a few. days after police said that they were. looking for her. And now, both face. capital murder charges, while Grass is. also charged with first-degree. kidnapping based on all the allegations. that I've laid out so far. But now, we. got to talk about a new development, the. latest developments, and what happened. inside of a Penllis County courtroom. So, for that, I want to welcome back on. to the show Florida trial attorney. Alexis Rosenberg. Alexis, thank you so. much uh for taking the time and coming. back back here on Cybar. Appreciate it.

>> Thank you for having me as always. >> You know, this is a case that has uh. really rocked this community. I mean, to. think that something this horrific could. be happening inside of basically a. normal looking home on an average. Florida street, if the allegations are. true, is terrifying. And we're going to. get more into that in just a minute. But. according to the search warrants, Alexis, this is the part that really. strikes you. Multiple people, multiple. people allegedly knew that something.

wasn't right. Maybe not all the details, but something wasn't right. Didn't. intervene in any way apparently. Is that. shocking to you when you hear that? I. mean, that part of the case, I think, really is just. it can make you really frustrated. >> I think it's it's totally shocking. It's. shocking to the conscience that. somebody, multiple people would see this. young girl when you see her. She's tiny. in statute. She does look young and that. they are seeing these various things. that have come out and that they have.

witnessed and nobody calls the police. And you know, you don't have an. obligation in the state of Florida if. you see a crime to report it from a. legal standpoint. But from a moral. standpoint, you would think they would. have picked up the phone and called the. police and potentially saved this little. girl's life. >> Yeah. And I want to talk about this uh. uh more and I want to get into the. legality of it. So, let's talk about. Steven Gres's case. Okay. So the. defense, they requested a competency.

evaluation be done on Grest to determine. if he's able to assist in his own. defense. Does he understand what the. legal proceedings are about? It's. different than insanity. Now, the court. approved the evaluation and according to. the Penllis County uh court records, Gres was in fact deemed competent to. stand trial this week. That's a big. development, Alexis, right? Talk to me. about competency. How is this evaluation. determined? And can it change? Can. someone be, you know, determined to be. competent now, but maybe at some point. in the court process that could change?

>> Exactly, Jesse. He was deemed to be. competent to stand trial now. And what. that means is that he was evaluated. Usually it's by two independent separate. mental health professionals to determine. as at the time now not when the crime. happened that he's competent to aid in. his defense communicate with his. attorneys. It doesn't have it to do with. which a lot of our viewers hear about. the insanity plea. That has to do with.

when the crime was committed. So, he's. now competent, but let's say, you know, if he ends up going to trial a year from. now, he may potentially be deemed that. he's not competent then. >> And to be clear, it's not a defense, right? It's just whether or not the the. court the case can actually continue, whether or not the trial can continue. I. I there was the defense also did. something else. They filed a few. interesting motions that I want to talk. about. So, the first is in reference to. the app that Miranda and Gres allegedly.

communicated on. So, the defense says. they they claim that they haven't been. able to get access to the messages. between the two of them and that they. want the court to step in to make sure. they have all the evidence they need to. prepare for trial. There's a motion to. compel discovery which states, quote, "Prior to the homicide, defendant and MC. communicated via Grinder, a smartphone. app. During the investigation, law. enforcement drafted and served a warrant. to Grinder for communications between. the deedent and defendant. To date, defense council has not received these.

communications. The communications. between the deedented and defendant are. necessary to properly prepare this case. for trial and the communications are. discoverable information pursuant to. rule 3.22. Wherefore, based on the foregoing, defendant moves this court to enter the. order compelling discovery and order the. state or the St. Petersburg Police. Department to provide this information. to defense council. So, if I'm. understanding this correct correct, Alexis, it sounds like Grinder has. complied with the subpoena. There is.

information, but whoever is supposed to. be passing that information along to the. defense, whether it's the prosecutor's. office or law enforcement, hadn't done. it yet. That's their claim. And it is. important to to note here for the. defense to see what was in those. messages. But tell tell me what you make. of that allegation that they haven't. received yet and and why do they want. it? How is that going to help their. defense? So I agree with you. We can go. with the assumption that it is in the. possession of the prosecution and for.

some reason the prosecution has not. turned that over. It could also be that. they they believe that the prosecution. has not completely turned over the. records and we are assuming here it. could be that the complete records they. haven't obtained from Grinder. So we. don't know specifically that. But if we. go with the assumption that they're in. the possession of the prosecution, the. prosecution has to turn those over and. they do have an obligation to do so. And. it would be important to the defense. I.

I don't think that it's going to get him. out of the what is going on ultimately, but it would be important for their. preparation. to defend him. I I the only thing that I. can imagine is if there's something in. those messages to suggest that she. wasn't coerced in any way, like if. they're looking at the kidnapping. charge. Um I guess I I don't know what. could be communicated that would help in. the offense of murder. I don't know. >> I agree with you. I can't think of.

anything either and I'm not so sure that. that would even be strong for kidnapping. because obviously kidnapping can change. you know, initially [snorts] you, you. know, she agrees to go over there, which. we know she did, and then ultimately. that shifted. I'm, you know, she wanted. to leave and go home. So, I I don't. think that supports that. Maybe maybe it. supports their thinking something about. mental health, but also the prosecution. does have an obligation to turn over all.

discovery and that is a basis to. potentially do various motions to get if. there's a conviction reversed or to. prevent them from getting that. conviction. They do have that. obligation. >> Yeah. No, 100% 100%. And the. prosecutors, by the way, I want to go to. another legal aspect of this case. The. prosecutors indicated early on that they. would be seeking the death penalty. against both Gres and Brendis here. And. maybe that's not surprising when you. consider what we're talking about here.

There's a lot of extra research though. that goes into death penalty cases. because there are two parts to this. trial. That's why it can take some time. before you actually go to trial because. if the defendant is found guilty, the. case then goes to the penalty phase. So, there's two phases and the jury would. have to decide whether or not a criminal. defendant should be put to death or. whether or not they should be sentenced. to life in prison without the. possibility of parole. Now, previously, Florida law required a unanimous. decision by the jury in order to impose.

the death penalty. That changed. Governor Ronda Santis signed a new law. in 2023 that now means if eight out of. the [clears throat] 12 jurors recommend. capital punishment, the state can move. forward with this. And this comes after. there was a decision, remember what. happened in the Parkland school shooting. where that shooter was sentenced to life. in prison instead of being put to death. Um, and as part of the penalty phase, the defense can obviously introduce. mitigating factors, reasons that their. client uh shouldn't be put to death. Before we talk about what that could be, Alexis, is this the kind of case that.

makes sense to you that would be pursued. as a death penalty case and where there. could be a strong likelihood that a jury. would actually impose that, particularly. given the change in the law, >> 100%. This has got to be one of the. worst cases that's come across Florida. as we hear more and more details about. this. I think this is the exact type of. case that would be something that you. would try as a prosecutor to get the.

death penalty. And I think there's a. high probability unless we get. additional factors about this defendant. that potentially would exclude him from. being uh executed or be sentenced to. death. The facts surrounding this are. really ripe for this to be a death. penalty conviction sentence. And let me. talk about the uh mitigating factors. So. Gres's public defender says that some of. those mitigating factors could be found. in their client's criminal record from.

when he was a minor. There is a motion. to unseal his juvenile record that was. filed with the court. And it says, quote, "Defendant Steven Gres by through. undersign counsel pursuant to the. Florida rules of criminal procedure. moves this court to unseal defendants. juvenile records for defense council. including but not limited to any. psychological, psychiatric, mental. health records and any predisposition. reports from the Department of Juvenile. Justice. The Penllis County Clerk's. Office has defendants juvenile. delinquency records. Defense Council.

cannot obtain a copy of these records. from the clerk's office without a court. order. These juvenile justice records. are necessary to properly prepare for. the penalty phase. Now, Alexis, we don't. have access to those records ourselves. We don't know exactly what they're. looking for, but what do you think the. defense is looking for? What what what. kind of mitigating evidence would they. put forward? And do you think it would. be effective? >> Well, so in Florida, you cannot sentence. someone or execute them if they qualify. as insane. So, I think that why they're.

pulling those records is to make a case. for the fact that his mental illness. raises to the level of insanity. and therefore the death penalty would. have to be off the table. I think that's. where they're going with it. I think. they may also be going with possibly an. insanity defense. I think that is, you. know, that in general is much harder. But if we have supportive mental health. records going way back with diagnosis.

attached to that raised to the level of. insanity, it would take the death. penalty off the table. >> I'm I I might push back a little bit and. say I don't know if it would be. insanity, but if you're I've seen this. so many times in penalty phases where. they basically are like troubled youth, troubled background, had severe uh. mental health issues, developmental. issues, and it's not excusing the crime. It's not suggesting, you know, because. it's going to be after the jury would, you know, find him guilty, right? It's. but it's trying to explain, it's trying.

to put into context. It's saying to the. jury, this is not somebody who should be. put to death for their crimes, but and. and I don't know if that always works. Um, I think sometimes it does, sometimes. it doesn't. I think it depends upon the. jury, depends upon the case, but it. could maybe not rise to the level of, let's say, insanity, but you're looking. at all of these mental health factors, and I've seen this before in other. cases. I'm not saying this will happen. here, where they look to was there a. brain abnormality, was there uh an accident that the.

defendant got into that caused a brain. abnormality, uh a brain injury of some. kind, but I I think sometimes jurors and. at least trial watchers, they're. skeptical of that. >> So, I think what you're talking about in. the penalty phase, and you're absolutely. right, they would be able to bring in. those mitigating factors. What I was. referring to was really prior to that to. be able to knock out that that death. penalty before we even get to the part. of the penalty phase.

>> Yeah. The only reason I mentioned the. penalty is because that's what they. said. They said he needed to prepare for. the penalty phase. So that's what I'm. assuming that's what they're trying to. do for it. >> I I agree with you. That would be very. important at the penalty phase to have. all of that information to say that he. had this these mental issues that he had. this horrible childhood. All of those. things come into play because one of the. things that they have a lot of. aggravating factors here. I mean the. crime itself. They also have when in the. penalty phase, they can get in to the.

fact that of his previous uh convictions. and sentencings and all of that, even. though a lot of that's probably going to. not be allowed at during the trial, but. at the penalty phase, they they're going. to look at all of that and take that. into consideration. >> Yeah. So, Gres, he's uh scheduled for a. pre-trial hearing uh in January. So, now. we want to move on to Michelle Brandis. and her defense team is also hard at. work. They filed motions for funding for. a private investigator. They have. scheduled more than a dozen depositions.

of witnesses. Her next appearance in. court is scheduled for December 10th and. they both remain locked up in the. Penllis County uh with no bond. Now, I. do want to talk a little bit more about. how we got here, how a young vulnerable. girl ended up in the hands of, if these. allegations are true, monsters with no. help of helping her. Okay, so Gres, his. arrest warrants provide graphic details. about what allegedly happened inside a. home on 27th Avenue North. And I'm going. to warn you right now, this is very.

difficult to hear. In an affidavit that. was related to Gres's kidnapping charge, a detective wrote, quote, "The defendant. and codefendant had taken in the victim. and allowed her to live at their. residence sometime around February 14th, 2025. on or around February 20th, 2025, the defendant and codefendant thought. the victim might have stolen a piece of. jewelry and began to torture her by. beating her repeatedly. The victim. sustained visible injuries and based on. the statement of two separate witnesses, the victim was held against her will. through force and intimidation.

constituting kidnapping under Florida. law. Then the warrant for murder in the. first degree says, quote, "The defendant. and codefendant held the victim against. her will for over seven days and. tortured her by repeatedly, it's either. berating or beating the victim and. eventually stuffing a billiard ball into. her mouth and wrapping her face with. plastic wrap, causing her to suffocate. The defendant and codefendant felt the. victim had stolen a ring." Now, Alexis, that is terrifying to think about um.

what Miranda's final moments would be if. these allegations are true. Again, goes. to the idea of what impact this may have. on a jury either in the guilt phase or. the penalty phase. Um but it clearly. investigators, law enforcement believe. they have the evidence to prove that. timeline. >> This is just gruesome. I there are no. words for the suffering that this child. went through. I mean, even in the. beginning of, you know, when she was. younger, she had such a hard life to. start with and then ultimately to die in.

this manner in the days leading up to. it. There really are no words. And like. you said, if these allegations are true, they are truly monsters. And there it's. unbelievable when you hear these facts. coming at you. And we have reported. before, we talked about it before, that. there are at least six people that. allegedly knew about this reported abuse. happening inside that duplex and did. nothing. That's an allegation. That's.

according to a search warrant that was. reviewed by the Tampa Bay Times, which. was requested so that St. Petersburg. police could search Gres's mom's phone. According to that warrant, neighbors. told police that they had seen Miranda. going into Gres's home. And at one. point, he reportedly told him, "This. little bee stole my ring and won't give. it back, so I've been beating her. bleep." Now, the Tampa Bay Times reports. that at least three people, including. Gres's mother, said that Gres sent them. photos of Miranda, naked, covered in.

bruises, and with her condition getting. worse in every photo. The outlet reports. that an affidavit says that Gres's. mother denied viewing the photos. Said. that when Gres told her the girl had. allegedly stolen a ring and she was. still in his home, she said that she. stopped talking to him because, quote, "Good people don't want to know bad. things." That's according to that. affidavit. And the outlet also reports. that one of the first people that police. talked to, who was another woman who. apparently lived with Grass. She told.

police that she had previously been in a. relationship with Grass, but that he was. now with Brandice, that they all lived. together. She said Gres would bring. homeless or drugaddicted young women, seemingly in an attempt to have open. sexual relationships. But the witness. told police that Brandice was jealous. So when Gres's ring went missing, the. suspicion that Miranda had taken it, that's when the violence began. And. after several days of that, the woman. said that Brandice showed her the ring, saying she'd found it in Gres's car. But.

the witness allegedly told police that. she believed Brandice had the ring all. along and just wanted Gres to dislike. Miranda. According to this witness, it. was Brandis who wrapped Miranda's head. in plastic that Gres allegedly told her. not to cover Miranda's nose, but she. did, and then Miranda died. Now, this. woman, I guess, could be considered a. co-conspirator, but as far as we know, she's not been charged in connection. with Miranda's death in any way, or the. alleged cover up in any way afterward. It seems to me, Alexis, you're talking.

about a key witness who maybe got some. sort of deal. Well, so the neighbor who. was hearing this was I'm not hearing you. say that she would rise to the level of. a co-conspirator because all I'm hearing. is that she was hearing this and she. wasn't doing anything. And in Florida, there's no obligation to report a crime. There was no act that this uh neighbor. or co-conspirator actually or alleged. co-conspirator actually did. So, I don't.

think that she's going to be charged. with a crime. The the problem is that. they're going to most likely have her. come in and testify in court about what. happened. And, you know, the the jury is. really going to have some questions. about, well, why now? Why now are you. coming forward and saying this? and and. maybe a question in the back of the head. like you did their heads like you just. said, Jesse, did she get something in. return for this testimony, but I think.

the defense is going to hammer in on why. now and is it really true? >> And look, as they should, that's their. job. They got to question these. witnesses. Look, and or potential. witnesses. And look, if it is possible, and it might be kind of hard to think. about this, the woman's story got even. more bizarre and disturbing. She said. that all three of them took Miranda's. body wrapped in a purple blanket outside. to a Honda Civic and then drove to. Brandice's mother's house in Largo that.

Gres and Brandis reportedly moved the. body from the trunk and dismembered. Miranda with a chainsaw, putting her. body parts in white trash bags. And get. this, it was apparently Brandice's. birthday. So then they allegedly go out. to Popeye's, played putt putt at a local. place in Clearwater again, all while. trash bags full of body parts sat in the. trunk of the car. Now, the witness told. investigators or apparently told. investigators that they then drove. around the Tampa Bay area trying to find. a place to dump the remains, eventually.

chose a dumpster near where Gres's. grandparents lived in Ruskin. And. according to St. Petersburg police. While Gres tried to blame the most. violent parts of the ordeal on Brandis, she said that he was the aggressor, that. she was afraid of him, so she had to do. what he said. Now, both Gres and. Brandice, they're expected to go to. trial in 2026. But Alexis, this is like. competing narratives, and I do wonder. how, you know, prosecutors, how a jury. is going to sort through who's telling.

the truth, who the blame is on. Does it. come down to like for example if they. went to Putt Putt or Popeye's. surveillance footage? Like how do you. determine who to believe here? >> Well, if the neighbor was part of. disposing of the body, then the neighbor. potentially would be charged with the. crime and most likely since they have. not, they probably did take a deal like. you had mentioned before. But I do think. from a defense strategy, the two of them. pointing their fingers at each other is.

probably at this point the best defense. they have. I I think Brandeise is. probably also going to take some sort of. deal to be able to testify. um you know against guys and I I I think. that that probably is already in the. works. I don't think the prosecution is. going to give offer some light sentence. They're probably just going to offer her. to take the death penalty off of the. table in order to get that testimony to. lock down the death penalty against the.

boyfriend. Um, and which it sounds like. the communication, the luring, all that. was him, not her. I I do find it hard to. believe that she didn't have anything to. do with it. And I don't think the. prosecution believes that either. Well, I don't know cuz like this idea that she. might have been jealous and she's the. one who, you know, wanted her dead and. and closed off her breathing. I mean, I. don't know if we'll ever really know the. answer and I don't know if prosecutors. have more. um they may be trying to just.

push ahead against both and feel they're. both equally responsible uh for what. happened. But look, I you know, you you. talk about a a a deal. You do wonder to. take this to trial, expose jurors to. this, the family members to this, the. the pain, the expense, the heartache of. a trial like this. You do wonder if it. can be resolved uh before, but it's. difficult to know. >> Well, guys, I don't think they're going. to offer him a deal. I I I think they're. going to go forward with trying to get. the death penalty against him. I don't.

think there's going to be a deal on the. table. The only way that they maybe. would take the death penalty off the. table is if the family is articulating. that that's something that they want to. happen. >> and generally that doesn't happen. especially with these types of facts. that we have you know pertaining to this. case. But I do think there's a high. likelihood the prosecution will make a. deal the Brandise to take the death. penalty off for her testimony. I think. that there is a high likelihood of that.

>> Let's see what happens. Alexis. Rosenberg, thank you so much for taking. the time. Good to see you. >> Thank you for having me. Have a great. day. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please [music] subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you get. your podcasts. You can follow me on Ax. or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll. speak to you next time.

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