Social media model charged with killing Texas-native boyfriend in luxury Miami condominium

Courtney Clenney, 26, was arrested in Hawaii; couple had ‘tempestuous and combative relationship’

This photo provided by the Hawaii Police Department shows Courtney Clenney. Law enforcement in Hawaii on Wednesday. Aug. 10, 2022 arrested social media model Courtney Clenney on a charge of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon. Hawaii County police said in a statement they assisted the U.S. Marshals Service as they arrested the 26-year-old on the Big Island. (Hawaii Police Department via AP)

MIAMI – The girlfriend of a Texas man who was fatally stabbed during a domestic violence incident at a luxury Miami condominium has been charged with second-degree murder, prosecutors in South Florida announced Thursday.

Social media model Courtney Clenney, 26, was arrested in Hawaii on Wednesday, months after the death of her live-in boyfriend Christian Obumseli, 27.

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Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Clenney, who goes by the name Courtney Tailor on such platforms as Instagram and OnlyFans, remained jailed in Hawaii while authorities seek her extradition to Florida.

She appeared in a courtroom on Hawaii's Big Island Thursday, where she waived her right to an extradition hearing and agreed to return to Florida.

Judge Henry Nakamoto ordered her held without bail pending extradition.

Fernandez Rundle characterized Obumseli’s April 3 death at the couple’s Miami home was the culmination of a “tempestuous and combative relationship” that began in November 2020.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the couple had multiple domestic violence incidents, and the episodes started after they moved into a unit at One Paraiso Residences, a luxury condominium building in Miami.

Before Obumseli moved to Miami, where he worked in cryptocurrency, he lived in Texas and attended Abilene Christian University and Texas Tech University. He was born in Dallas and was just days away from his 28th birthday, according to his obituary.

An arrested warrant affidavit obtained by the Morning-News states that they lived in the unit with their dogs, and the domestic violence incidents became so frequent that residents complained and the complex planned on evicting them.

In one incident in February, surveillance video from an elevator shows Clenney hitting Obumseli multiple times, and Obumseli pushing Clenney away.

Prosecutors show video of woman arrested for murder striking boyfriend in elevator. Image obtained by WPLG, KSAT's sister station.

On April 3, police were called to the building and found Obumseli with a stab wound. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

The county medical examiner said in an autopsy report that Obumseli died from a forceful downward thrust from a blade that went 3 inches into his chest, piercing a major artery.

According to an arrest report, Clenney acknowledged killing Obumseli but said she acted in self-defense. She said Obumseli had pushed her and thrown her to the floor, which prompted her to grab a knife and throw it at Obumseli from about 10 feet away. The medical examiner said Obumseli’s wound could not have been caused by a knife thrown from that distance.

Clenney’s Miami defense lawyer, Frank Prieto, said the medical examiner’s opinions won’t stand up to scientific scrutiny when they argue self-defense at trial.

The Morning-News reported that in the 911 call, Clenney could be heard saying “I’m so sorry baby.”

She called 911 at 4:57 p.m., minutes after she spoke with her mother on the telephone, the affidavit states.

Investigators said that 30 minutes later, Clenney’s mother texted her, mentioned self-defense and recommended she hire an attorney, the affidavit states.

Prieto acknowledged that Clenney and Obumseli had a tumultuous relationship but said Obumseli was the primary aggressor.

“Obumseli was the abuser, the worst kind of abuser,” Prieto said in a statement. “He would manipulate and abuse Courtney in private when he thought nobody was around.”

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About the Authors:

Rebecca Salinas is an award-winning digital journalist who joined KSAT in 2019. She reports on a variety of topics for KSAT 12 News.