The wife of Kirkland Warren, the man charged in the March 2023 slayings of a Vancouver mother and daughter, was sentenced to two years of probation last month for stealing money from credit union accounts in Portland.
Monet Tyler-Warren, 26, pleaded guilty Feb. 1 in Multnomah County, Ore., Circuit Court to two counts of first-degree theft and two counts of attempted identity theft. Charges of aggravated first-degree theft and aggravated identity theft were dismissed, court records show.
As part of the scheme, Tyler-Warren transferred the stolen money to other accounts, court records say, including one in the name of Meshay Melendez, the woman her husband is accused of killing.
Investigators say Warren fatally shot Melendez, his former girlfriend, and her 7-year-old daughter, Layla, sometime between March 12 and March 15, 2023. He is facing charges in Clark County Superior Court of two counts of aggravated first-degree murder and one count each of first-degree rape of a child and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
He’s also charged with other domestic violence crimes against Melendez in a separate Clark County case and is facing murder charges in a 2017 Arkansas homicide. He is scheduled for trial in the Clark County cases April 22.
Tyler-Warren has denied any involvement in Melendez and Layla’s deaths.
In addition to probation, Tyler-Warren is required to undergo mental health treatment, court records show.
According to a probable cause affidavit in Tyler-Warren’s case, an employee at the Portland-based Trailhead Credit Union reported April 11 that another employee had been changing customer account information in order to transfer money. The employee showed Portland police documentation for two accounts.
The records showed that on Nov. 21, 2022, Tyler-Warren’s credentials were used to alter the information, including the password, email and phone number for one of the accounts. It also showed $20,000 was transferred to an account belonging to Melendez, court records state.
The employee also provided police with surveillance photos that showed Melendez opening an account at the credit union in November 2022.
The surveillance footage also captured Melendez exiting Tyler-Warren’s vehicle, according to the affidavit.
Tyler-Warren’s credentials were also used Oct. 14, 2022, to alter the information on another account so that $4,500 was transferred to an account under a different name, the affidavit states.
When interviewed by police, Tyler-Warren told them she had been changing account information so her husband could steal money. She said she began stealing money from accounts the summer before and had altered between five and 10 accounts, according to court records.
