Vancouver man accused in death of girlfriend, 7-year-old, faces new child rape charge after DNA match

Meshay Melendez and Layla Stewart vigil in Vancouver

Hundreds of people attended a vigil for Meshay Melendez, 27, and Layla Stewart, 7, Sunday, March 26, 2023, at Esther Short Park in Vancouver, Wash.Mark Graves/The Oregonian

Subscribers can gift articles to anyone
By

A 28-year-old Vancouver man charged with murder in the March deaths of his girlfriend and her 7-year-old daughter is facing a new charge of raping a child after investigators matched evidence to his DNA profile.

Clark County Sheriff’s deputies and Vancouver police found the bodies of 27-year-old Meshay Melendez and her daughter, Layla Stewart, on March 22 after a passerby reported seeing two “life-sized mannequins” at the bottom of a Washougal embankment. The mother and daughter had gone missing 10 days earlier from Vancouver.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.