March 12, 2025 • 10 mins
In Florida, a couple stands accused of the alleged kidnapping and dismemberment of a teenager who went missing in February.
In New Jersey, a detective with the Newark Police Department was gunned down while working on an investigation. A suspect has been arrested and charged, but their age has caused quite a controversy.
In Texas, a teenager has been charged in the alleged robbery and murder of a man back in December of last year.
Consider joining PLUS+ at swordandscale.com/plus
In New Jersey, a detective with the Newark Police Department was gunned down while working on an investigation. A suspect has been arrested and charged, but their age has caused quite a controversy.
In Texas, a teenager has been charged in the alleged robbery and murder of a man back in December of last year.
Consider joining PLUS+ at swordandscale.com/plus
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, and welcome back to Sword and Scale Daily, a
daily show covering all things true crime, five days a week.
It's Wednesday, March twelfth. I'm your host, Ryan Williams. In Florida,
a couple stands accused of the alleged kidnapping and dismemberment
of a teenager who went missing in February. In New Jersey,
(00:23):
a detective with the Newark Police Department was gunned down
while working on an investigation. A suspect has been arrested
and charged, but their age has caused quite a controversy.
And in Texas, a teenager has been charged in the
alleged robbery and murder of a man back in December
of last year. All of this coming at you right
now here on Sword and Scale Daily. On Monday, February
(00:59):
twenty fourth, a woman contacted police in Gulfport, Florida, to
report that her teenage granddaughter was missing. The woman explained
that sixteen year old Miranda Corsette hadn't returned after leaving
the house the week prior, with no explanation of where
she was going or when she'd be back. This was
pretty concerning for the grandmother, as Miranda was a new
mother of an eleven month old girl. For officers in
(01:22):
golf Ports, they were pretty familiar with Miranda. She was
someone who had frequently run away from the home, so
officers traveled out and met with Miranda's grandmother, took the
report and began looking for the young teenager, but days
continued passing by and Miranda was seemingly nowhere to be found. However,
on Thursday, March sixth, the Saint Petersburg Police Department received
(01:44):
an anonymous tip about a potential kidnapping and murder that
involved Miranda Corsette. The tip they received alleged that thirty
five year old Stephen Gress and his partner, thirty seven
year old Michelle Brands, were involved in this crime, and
based on the serious nature of these claims, the case
was then passed on to investigators for follow up, and,
as it turns out, some information seemed to line up.
(02:06):
Investigators soon learned that Randa had been in communication with
Stephen via social media. They also found that Miranda had
traveled from Gulfport in order to meet Stephen. Whoever this
tipster was that first passed along. This information also provided
some gruesome details regarding what they knew about Miranda's fate
and unfortunately it wasn't good. This horrific information that the
(02:28):
tipster told investigators was that sometime between February twentieth and
the twenty fourth, Randa, Stephen, and Michelle had gotten into
a pretty heated argument at the couple's home. Randa had
been staying with them for a couple of days by
that point, and some jewelry had gone missing, thus causing
the argument between the couple and the teenager. It's believed
that during that argument it became physical, with Randa suffering
(02:51):
a pretty vicious beating, which led to a few days
of torture. It's also believed that at some point during
those four days, Stephen killed Miranda by someating her and
then took her body to a home on the twelve
thousand block of Mallory Drive and Largo. It's been alleged
that Stephen then dismembered Miranda before transporting her remains to
Hillsborough County, where he then allegedly placed the remains in
(03:13):
a dumpster. Investigators were able to locate a dumpster, and
they confirmed that a body had been in there recently. However,
it was empty by the time they found it. And
now investigators have started the painstaking process of looking through
the county landfill to find those remains. Fortunately for investigators,
they learned that Stephen Gress was already in custody on
(03:34):
an unrelated drug charge and spoke with him regarding Miranda's
disappearance and subsequent death. Now, at the time of this writing,
what was discussed in that interview room is unknown. What
we do know is that Stephen has officially been charged
with first degree murder and kidnapping. And this past Saturday,
Michelle Brands turned herself in after a warrant was issued
(03:54):
for her arrest. She too has been charged with first
degree murder and kidnapping. This case is rapidly developing and
there's still a lot that is unknown. We're continuing to
keep a close eye on this story and we'll bring
you an update as soon as new information is released.
(04:21):
We head over to New Jersey for a story that
has taken the national headlines by storm. On Friday, March seventh,
at around six thirty pm, a call went out over
police radio that an officer was down near the corner
of Broadway and Carteret Street in Newark. As responding officers
descended on the scene, they found twenty six year old
Detective Joseph Ascona and his partner, an unnamed detective, injured
(04:43):
at their patrol vehicle. Detective as ConA, a five year
veteran of the Newark Police Department, was suffering from gunshot
wounds in the driver's seat of the car. Both detectives
were taken to University Hospital in Newark for emergency treatment. Unfortunately,
at two thirty am, some of his ConA succumbed to
his injuries and was pronounced dead. Fortunately, however, Detective as
(05:05):
Cona's partner only suffered non life threatening injuries and was
able to speak with his colleagues on what occurred on
Friday afternoon. It seems that both he and Detective as
Kona were both following up on an illegal weapons investigation.
As they were driving around, they saw a group of
young adults and teenagers who were the targets of this probe.
But as the two detectives pulled up, shots were fired
(05:28):
directly at them. As the group ran away, Detective as
ConA hadn't even had time to react or get out
of the car by the time he was struck by
the bullets. Luckily, the police response at the scene was
swift and officers were able to detain five members of
the group who are believed to be at the scene
of the shooting. But here's where things get a bit odd.
(05:49):
Only one person has been charged in relation to Detective
Ascona's death, and that individual is an unnamed fourteen year
old juvenile. He also faces charges of attempted murder and
possession of legal weapons. It's not currently known if the
other members of the group that was detained are facing
any charges. As of right now, only the one juvenile
(06:09):
is charged, further complicating matters for many who are rightfully outraged.
The suspect cannot be charged as an adult in this case.
New Jersey state law says that no one under the
age of fifteen can be charged as an adult in
a criminal case, no matter the seriousness of the crime,
and no matter how heinous the case may be. So
(06:29):
if the suspect is convicted, the maximum sentence he could
receive his twenty years, whereas if he were charged as
an adult, the maximum sentence could be thirty years to life.
When this news broke, the media spoke with some officers
in law enforcement to get an idea of what their
reaction was One officer stated, quote, he was old enough
to acquire a gun, and he was apparently old enough
(06:49):
to engage the police in a shootout. But now you're
going to say that he's not old enough to be
the tough guy in court that he was on the street.
That's infuriating. What message does that send to the next
want to be thug? He killed a cop? Treat him
like the cop killer he is. Another officer went on
a state quote, I get it, they're fourteen years old.
The brains haven't developed. But if you're going to charge
(07:10):
this kid as a juvenile, you better f in charge
whoever put that gun in his hands with access rate
and murder, then you can give him the life sentence.
They assassinated him. This was a coordinated attack. They knew
what was an unmarked vehicle. They were trying to send
a message to law enforcement like, hey, you're on our turf.
All I know is a cop got killed. You better
put them away for life. We're going to continue following
(07:32):
this story closely. If new and updated details are released,
we'll be sure to bring you an update. Back on
December second, twenty twenty four, Please in Siegoville, Texas, responded
to the six hundred block of Fountain Drive for reported robbery.
(07:54):
When responding officers arrived at the scene, which turned out
to be a community park, they found a man sitting
on the ground next to a park bench. The man
was alive but suffering from an apparent gunshot entry. The
victim was then transported to a local area hospital for
emergency treatment. Because the victim was found alive shortly after
this alleged robbery and shooting occurred, he was able to
(08:14):
provide officers with some information about what led to the incident.
It appears that the man had placed an ad on
Facebook marketplace to sell some jewelry and met with someone
who was interested in purchasing said jewelry. They planned to
meet at the park and exchanged the jewelry and money.
When the victim arrived in his blue Hondai sedan, the
buyer got into his car, but just a few moments later,
(08:34):
a shot rang out and both the alleged shooter and
victim were observed running from the car. Witnesses who were
in the area would later tell investigators that the victim
ran roughly sixty feet before making it to the park bench,
where he was later found. Unfortunately, the victim did not survive.
At the time of this writing, the victim's name is
not known, but for investigators who were looking into the shooting,
(08:57):
they were able to identify a person of interest. That
person was seventeen year old Daikuon Blanton. The only problem
was day Kwon was seemingly nowhere to be found. Now.
Over the past few months, investigators have been searching for
day Kwon with no leads. It wasn't until Monday, February
twenty fourth that his photo and information on the case
(09:17):
were released on Trackdown, a weekly segment released through Fox
four in the Dallas Fort Worth area. And then on Sunday,
March ninth, an investigator who was handling the case received
a call from none other than Daikwon Blanton. It seems
that he saw the Takedown segment that had his photo
and then called the number at the bottom of the
online article. Daikon was willing to turn himself in, and
(09:41):
on Sunday he did exactly that. Daykon Blanton is now
facing charges of capital murder, aggravated robbery, and theft. All
we know at this time is that Daykon has been
booked into jail there's no word on his bond status
or if he is an upcoming court appearance scheduled. We're
going to continue following this story and we'll bring you
an update when an if, more information is released. Thanks
(10:04):
so much for tuning in for today's episode of Sword
and Scale Daily. I'm your host, Ryan Williams, and we'll
see you back here tomorrow
Hello, and welcome back to Sword and Scale Daily, a
daily show covering all things true crime, five days a week.
It's Wednesday, March twelfth. I'm your host, Ryan Williams. In Florida,
a couple stands accused of the alleged kidnapping and dismemberment
of a teenager who went missing in February. In New Jersey,
(00:23):
a detective with the Newark Police Department was gunned down
while working on an investigation. A suspect has been arrested
and charged, but their age has caused quite a controversy.
And in Texas, a teenager has been charged in the
alleged robbery and murder of a man back in December
of last year. All of this coming at you right
now here on Sword and Scale Daily. On Monday, February
(00:59):
twenty fourth, a woman contacted police in Gulfport, Florida, to
report that her teenage granddaughter was missing. The woman explained
that sixteen year old Miranda Corsette hadn't returned after leaving
the house the week prior, with no explanation of where
she was going or when she'd be back. This was
pretty concerning for the grandmother, as Miranda was a new
mother of an eleven month old girl. For officers in
(01:22):
golf Ports, they were pretty familiar with Miranda. She was
someone who had frequently run away from the home, so
officers traveled out and met with Miranda's grandmother, took the
report and began looking for the young teenager, but days
continued passing by and Miranda was seemingly nowhere to be found. However,
on Thursday, March sixth, the Saint Petersburg Police Department received
(01:44):
an anonymous tip about a potential kidnapping and murder that
involved Miranda Corsette. The tip they received alleged that thirty
five year old Stephen Gress and his partner, thirty seven
year old Michelle Brands, were involved in this crime, and
based on the serious nature of these claims, the case
was then passed on to investigators for follow up, and,
as it turns out, some information seemed to line up.
(02:06):
Investigators soon learned that Randa had been in communication with
Stephen via social media. They also found that Miranda had
traveled from Gulfport in order to meet Stephen. Whoever this
tipster was that first passed along. This information also provided
some gruesome details regarding what they knew about Miranda's fate
and unfortunately it wasn't good. This horrific information that the
(02:28):
tipster told investigators was that sometime between February twentieth and
the twenty fourth, Randa, Stephen, and Michelle had gotten into
a pretty heated argument at the couple's home. Randa had
been staying with them for a couple of days by
that point, and some jewelry had gone missing, thus causing
the argument between the couple and the teenager. It's believed
that during that argument it became physical, with Randa suffering
(02:51):
a pretty vicious beating, which led to a few days
of torture. It's also believed that at some point during
those four days, Stephen killed Miranda by someating her and
then took her body to a home on the twelve
thousand block of Mallory Drive and Largo. It's been alleged
that Stephen then dismembered Miranda before transporting her remains to
Hillsborough County, where he then allegedly placed the remains in
(03:13):
a dumpster. Investigators were able to locate a dumpster, and
they confirmed that a body had been in there recently. However,
it was empty by the time they found it. And
now investigators have started the painstaking process of looking through
the county landfill to find those remains. Fortunately for investigators,
they learned that Stephen Gress was already in custody on
(03:34):
an unrelated drug charge and spoke with him regarding Miranda's
disappearance and subsequent death. Now, at the time of this writing,
what was discussed in that interview room is unknown. What
we do know is that Stephen has officially been charged
with first degree murder and kidnapping. And this past Saturday,
Michelle Brands turned herself in after a warrant was issued
(03:54):
for her arrest. She too has been charged with first
degree murder and kidnapping. This case is rapidly developing and
there's still a lot that is unknown. We're continuing to
keep a close eye on this story and we'll bring
you an update as soon as new information is released.
(04:21):
We head over to New Jersey for a story that
has taken the national headlines by storm. On Friday, March seventh,
at around six thirty pm, a call went out over
police radio that an officer was down near the corner
of Broadway and Carteret Street in Newark. As responding officers
descended on the scene, they found twenty six year old
Detective Joseph Ascona and his partner, an unnamed detective, injured
(04:43):
at their patrol vehicle. Detective as ConA, a five year
veteran of the Newark Police Department, was suffering from gunshot
wounds in the driver's seat of the car. Both detectives
were taken to University Hospital in Newark for emergency treatment. Unfortunately,
at two thirty am, some of his ConA succumbed to
his injuries and was pronounced dead. Fortunately, however, Detective as
(05:05):
Cona's partner only suffered non life threatening injuries and was
able to speak with his colleagues on what occurred on
Friday afternoon. It seems that both he and Detective as
Kona were both following up on an illegal weapons investigation.
As they were driving around, they saw a group of
young adults and teenagers who were the targets of this probe.
But as the two detectives pulled up, shots were fired
(05:28):
directly at them. As the group ran away, Detective as
ConA hadn't even had time to react or get out
of the car by the time he was struck by
the bullets. Luckily, the police response at the scene was
swift and officers were able to detain five members of
the group who are believed to be at the scene
of the shooting. But here's where things get a bit odd.
(05:49):
Only one person has been charged in relation to Detective
Ascona's death, and that individual is an unnamed fourteen year
old juvenile. He also faces charges of attempted murder and
possession of legal weapons. It's not currently known if the
other members of the group that was detained are facing
any charges. As of right now, only the one juvenile
(06:09):
is charged, further complicating matters for many who are rightfully outraged.
The suspect cannot be charged as an adult in this case.
New Jersey state law says that no one under the
age of fifteen can be charged as an adult in
a criminal case, no matter the seriousness of the crime,
and no matter how heinous the case may be. So
(06:29):
if the suspect is convicted, the maximum sentence he could
receive his twenty years, whereas if he were charged as
an adult, the maximum sentence could be thirty years to life.
When this news broke, the media spoke with some officers
in law enforcement to get an idea of what their
reaction was One officer stated, quote, he was old enough
to acquire a gun, and he was apparently old enough
(06:49):
to engage the police in a shootout. But now you're
going to say that he's not old enough to be
the tough guy in court that he was on the street.
That's infuriating. What message does that send to the next
want to be thug? He killed a cop? Treat him
like the cop killer he is. Another officer went on
a state quote, I get it, they're fourteen years old.
The brains haven't developed. But if you're going to charge
(07:10):
this kid as a juvenile, you better f in charge
whoever put that gun in his hands with access rate
and murder, then you can give him the life sentence.
They assassinated him. This was a coordinated attack. They knew
what was an unmarked vehicle. They were trying to send
a message to law enforcement like, hey, you're on our turf.
All I know is a cop got killed. You better
put them away for life. We're going to continue following
(07:32):
this story closely. If new and updated details are released,
we'll be sure to bring you an update. Back on
December second, twenty twenty four, Please in Siegoville, Texas, responded
to the six hundred block of Fountain Drive for reported robbery.
(07:54):
When responding officers arrived at the scene, which turned out
to be a community park, they found a man sitting
on the ground next to a park bench. The man
was alive but suffering from an apparent gunshot entry. The
victim was then transported to a local area hospital for
emergency treatment. Because the victim was found alive shortly after
this alleged robbery and shooting occurred, he was able to
(08:14):
provide officers with some information about what led to the incident.
It appears that the man had placed an ad on
Facebook marketplace to sell some jewelry and met with someone
who was interested in purchasing said jewelry. They planned to
meet at the park and exchanged the jewelry and money.
When the victim arrived in his blue Hondai sedan, the
buyer got into his car, but just a few moments later,
(08:34):
a shot rang out and both the alleged shooter and
victim were observed running from the car. Witnesses who were
in the area would later tell investigators that the victim
ran roughly sixty feet before making it to the park bench,
where he was later found. Unfortunately, the victim did not survive.
At the time of this writing, the victim's name is
not known, but for investigators who were looking into the shooting,
(08:57):
they were able to identify a person of interest. That
person was seventeen year old Daikuon Blanton. The only problem
was day Kwon was seemingly nowhere to be found. Now.
Over the past few months, investigators have been searching for
day Kwon with no leads. It wasn't until Monday, February
twenty fourth that his photo and information on the case
(09:17):
were released on Trackdown, a weekly segment released through Fox
four in the Dallas Fort Worth area. And then on Sunday,
March ninth, an investigator who was handling the case received
a call from none other than Daikwon Blanton. It seems
that he saw the Takedown segment that had his photo
and then called the number at the bottom of the
online article. Daikon was willing to turn himself in, and
(09:41):
on Sunday he did exactly that. Daykon Blanton is now
facing charges of capital murder, aggravated robbery, and theft. All
we know at this time is that Daykon has been
booked into jail there's no word on his bond status
or if he is an upcoming court appearance scheduled. We're
going to continue following this story and we'll bring you
an update when an if, more information is released. Thanks
(10:04):
so much for tuning in for today's episode of Sword
and Scale Daily. I'm your host, Ryan Williams, and we'll
see you back here tomorrow
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