Holly MatkinMiami, FL – An OnlyFans model who was arrested in Hawaii on a second-degree murder charge earlier this month in connection with the fatal stabbing death of her live-in boyfriend has been denied bond.
Prosecutors have alleged that 26-year-old Courtney Clenney, who goes by the name of Courtney Tailor online, murdered her 27-year-old boyfriend, Christian “Toby” Obumseli, with a kitchen knife inside their luxury high-rise apartment in Miami on 3, FOX News reported.
Clenney, an OnlyFans model with more than 2 million Instagram followers, was arrested in Laupahoehoe on Hawaii’s Big Island on Aug. 10 on a warrant issued out of Miami-Dade County in Florida, according to KDFW.
Clenney’s attorney, Frank Prieto, told the news outlet she was on the island to obtain treatment for substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
The social media influencer waived her right to extradition and has since been returned to South Florida, FOX News reported.
Prieto told Miami-Dade Judge Jacqueline Woodward during an initial court appearance on Aug. 27 that his client acted in self-defense and argued there was no probable cause for the second-degree murder charge, according to WPLG.
“At best, it’s manslaughter,” he argued.
Woodward denied Prieto’s request to release Clenney on bail and ordered that she remain in custody pending her next hearing, which was scheduled for Sept. 6, WPLG reported.
Clenney faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if she is convicted.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said during a press conference on Aug. 11 that Clenney and Obumseli had a “tempestuous” two-year relationship that frequently devolved into violence, KDFW reported.
Their neighbors had complained about the loud arguments coming from their luxury Miami apartment, and the complex was working through the process of evicting them, according to police.
Two months before allegedly killing her boyfriend, a security camera inside the elevator of the couple’s apartment complex captured Clenney beating Obumseli as he tried to push her away.
State attorneys office showing a video from February that they say shows the defendant acting violently towards the victim @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/JuMdfXYl8Y
— Alyssa Hyman (@AlyssaHymanNBC6) August 11, 2022
Clenney was also arrested on a domestic battery charge in January of 2021 after she allegedly hurled a glass at Obumseli’s head while they were in Las Vegas, the New York Post reported.
“Evidence gathered during the investigation of Christian’s death shows that since November 2020, he and the defendant have been in an extremely combative relationship,” Rundle noted.
According to investigators, Clenney claimed Obumseli slammed her against a wall by her neck on April 3, and that she threw a knife at him in self-defense, KDFW reported.
She said she was about 10 feet away when she hurled the blade at him, according to Rolling Stone.
But the OnlyFans star did not have injuries to corroborate her story, and the trajectory and slightly downward angle of the three-inch stab wound in Obumseli’s chest proved she was lying about throwing the knife at him, according to the arrest warrant.
The medical examiner concluded Clenney was standing directly in front of Obumseli when she plunged the kitchen knife into his chest, FOX News reported.
Police said Clenney admitted the fatal stabbing “wasn’t justified,” according to court documents.
The county medical examiner said in an autopsy report that #ChristianObumseli , died from a forceful downward thrust from a blade that went 3in (7.6 cm) into his chest, piercing a major artery.#CourtneyTailor said she threw it at Obumseli from about 10ft (3 metres) away. pic.twitter.com/agGvsyBwAT
— xoxocrimegirl (@xoxocrimegirl) August 12, 2022
Rundle also spoke about a 911 call in which Obumseli could allegedly be heard pleading for help, KDFW reported.
“Christian can be heard in the background saying, ‘I am dying,’ and he was losing feeling in his arm,” she told reporters. “The defendant is heard saying, ‘I am so sorry baby.’”
Investigators described a horrific crime scene.
“The amount of blood throughout the condominium at different levels, including two large pools, evidences the victim was bleeding for an extended period before police arrived,” the affidavit read, according to the New York Post.
Clenney was initially taken into custody after Obumseli’s murder, but she ended up being released after consultation with prosecutors, KDFW reported.
#RumorHasIt an IG model who allegedly stabbed her boyfriend to death was arrested by Miami police!
According to TMZ, influencer Courtney Tailor is seen covered in blood in new footage, after her boyfriend, Christian Tobechukwu Obumseli, was found dead in his apartment. 🚨 pic.twitter.com/wfISkAyP8X
— The Rumor Mill (@TRMUpdates) April 11, 2022
By the time the warrant for second-degree murder with a deadly weapon was signed, it was Aug. 4 and Clenney was in Hawaii.
Miami Police Chief Manuel Morales said investigators wanted to make sure they put together a solid case before charges were filed, KDFW reported.
“You only get one shot,” he said. “You want to get it right.
Obumseli’s family has been calling for Clenney’s arrest for months, KDFW reported.
“This is such a relief to the family,” said the family’s attorney, Larry Handfield. “It gives restored hope, and even though delayed, justice will still come.”
Prieto has denied Rundle’s allegations that his client was the “aggressor” in the relationship, according to Rolling Stone.
Prieto also said it was a “shame” that prosecutors are “seeking to win this case in the court of public opinion” by making the elevator security video public.
“The video does not depict the events leading up to what was captured in the elevator,” the attorney said. “Obumseli was the abuser, the worst kind of abuser. He would manipulate and abuse Courtney in private when he thought nobody was around.”
Video From Miami Shows IG Model
Courtney Tailor Covered In Blood,
After Fatally Stabbing Her BF pic.twitter.com/QtdrcjevSY— WickedViral (@WickedViralTV) April 8, 2022
He said he was “shocked” Clenney was arrested and insisted she acted in self-defense, Rolling Stone reported.
“Obumseli attacked her and choked her that evening; Courtney had no choice but to meet force with force,” Prieto said in an emailed statement to Rolling Stone. “We have cooperated with the investigation from the beginning. We have always offered to self-surrender if charges were filed in an effort to begin the legal process of clearing her of the charges.”
Prieto also claimed his client was a victim of sex trafficking, but he has not provided further details or evidence to support those claims, according to Rolling Stone.
“We look forward to clearing her name in court,” he told FOX News.
Sandy Malone
