Deaths of woman, girl raise issues over boyfriend’s release

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — A passerby discovered the bodies of a missing Washington state woman and her 7-year-old daughter down a road embankment. The woman’s ex-boyfriend, who was the subject of a protection order and faces an unrelated murder charge in Arkansas, was identified by police as a person of interest. The ex-boyfriend was arrested in early March after police say he assaulted Meshay Melendez and fired a gunshot into her apartment. He was released on $100,000 bond even though he was already out on bail pending a murder trial in Arkansas. A few days later, Melendez and her daughter vanished. A prosecutor calls it a tragedy, but says normal procedures were followed.