An Instagram model was arrested in Hawaii on Wednesday in connection with the fatal stabbing of her boyfriend, a North Texas native, in Florida earlier this year.
Courtney Clenney, 26, is charged with second-degree murder in the slaying of 27-year-old Christian Obumseli, the Miami Herald reports. He will be extradited to Miami-Dade County, where the stabbing occurred.
Miami police were called to the One Paraiso Residences, a luxury condominium building, on the evening of April 3, and found Obumseli with a single stab wound. He died in hospital.
Clenney called police to report the incident, and police said the two got into a physical altercation before the stabbing.
Instagram Model “Clenney” was taken to a mental institution, police said
Her attorney, Frank Prieto, told the Herald that Clenney was in Hawaii at a substance abuse rehabilitation program. Prieto said she acted in self-defense when she stabbed Obumseli.
“I’m totally shocked, especially because we were cooperating with the investigation and she offered to surrender if she was charged,” Prieto said. “We are looking forward to clearing her name in court.”
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The couple had only been in Miami for a few months at the time of the incident. According to the Herald, there were other domestic disturbances between the two at the condo. Police were called to their previous home in Austin on several occasions.
Obumseli’s relatives asked the police to arrest “Clenney”, an Instagram model and social media influencer who uses a different name online and has millions of followers.
Clenney’s arrest warrant was unsealed Wednesday night, but more details about the investigation are expected to be available Thursday at a news conference held by the Miami-Dade County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Obumseli attended Plano East Senior High School and went to college at Abilene Christian University and Texas Tech University.
In his obituary, Obumseli was described as a free spirit with a giving nature.
“From the moment he was born, Toby’s bright personality was on full display,” it says. “Kids are easy to love, but it seems the older Toby got, the more people loved him.”
