A Florida man laughed in court while pleading guilty to the horrific murder of a 16-year-old girl who authorities say was tortured for days before her body was dismembered and dumped.
Steven Gress, 35, appeared in Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Miranda Corsette.
The plea was not part of a deal with prosecutors.
Gress acknowledged in court documents that the minimum mandatory sentence he faces is life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He could also still be sentenced to death.
When the judge reminded him of that possibility in court, Gress laughed and said he would rather be executed than spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Corsette, a 16-year-old high school student, was allegedly lured to Gress’ St. Petersburg home on Feb. 14, 2025 after the two communicated on Grindr, according to a probable cause affidavit.
She returned to the home the following day.
Investigators said the situation quickly became violent after Gress’ girlfriend, Michelle Brandes, 35, accused Corsette of stealing a ring.
Authorities later alleged that accusation was false.
Gress then beat Corsette over the next five days, according to investigators.
He also allegedly took disturbing photos showing the teenager’s worsening injuries and sent them to multiple people, including his own mother.
Police said none of the people who received the photos contacted law enforcement.
“There was a total of five photographs and in each photograph Corsette looked to be in increasingly worse physical condition,” investigators wrote in the affidavit.
Authorities said Corsette was nude in the images and had bruises and marks across much of her body.
“In the last photograph, Corsette’s head was so swollen that she was almost unrecognizable,” the affidavit said.
After his arrest, Gress admitted to many of the acts described by investigators but claimed Brandes was the person who ultimately killed Corsette.
According to the affidavit, Gress told police that Brandes placed a pool ball inside a sock, shoved it down Corsette’s throat and then wrapped plastic around the teenager’s face.
Gress claimed he told Brandes “not to cover the nose.”
He also allegedly said he was unable to reach Corsette quickly enough to poke holes in the plastic before she died.
A third roommate later told police she believed Brandes had actually taken the ring herself because she was jealous and wanted Gress to dislike Corsette.
After Corsette died, investigators said her body was taken to the home of Brandes’ mother.
Gress then dismembered and decapitated the teenager while Brandes placed her remains into trash bags, according to authorities.
Investigators said the three roommates then left the house with the bags containing Corsette’s remains still inside their vehicle.
They allegedly stopped to eat fried chicken and play miniature golf before driving approximately 50 miles to dispose of the remains in a dumpster.
Corsette was reported missing to the Gulfport Police Department on Feb. 24, 2025, the same day her remains were allegedly discarded.
Brandes has also been charged with murder and kidnapping.
She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Corsette’s family has since filed a civil lawsuit against Grindr on behalf of her estate.
The lawsuit lists nine causes of action and seeks financial damages, including claims of wrongful death, negligence, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, participation in a sex-trafficking venue and deceptive and unfair trade practices.
The lawsuit alleges the dating app failed to adequately prevent minors from accessing the platform.
“Grindr’s negligent conduct directly set in motion the chain of events that exposed M.C. to danger,” the lawsuit states.
“The acts of M.C.’s attacker were not independent of Grindr’s wrongdoing but were facilitated and made substantially more probable by Grindr’s deliberate failure to implement meaningful safeguards against underage access and exploitation.”
Gress is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 4 for the penalty phase, when the court will determine whether he receives life in prison or a death sentence.
