A judge denied bond Thursday for the OnlyFans model charged with murdering her boyfriend.
Courtney Clenney, 26, known online as Courtney Tailor, must stay behind bars. As previously report, prosecutors said she stabbed Christian Tobechukwu “Toby” Obumseli, 27, to death at their Miami apartment on April 3.
The defense has said Clenney acted in self-defense. According to authorities, she told cops she threw the knife at him and it struck his shoulder.
Judge DENIED bond for OnlyFans model #CourtneyClenney. Her 12/19/22 trial date has been cancelled with no new date set. Next status hearing is Feb. 6. @LawCrimeNetwork pic.twitter.com/xgFaxR0Mr5
— Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) December 8, 2022
Judge Laura Shearon Cruz’s bond decision is the result of a hearing last month to review whether Clenney will see some degree of freedom while facing this second-degree murder case. Prosecutors argued that she should be kept behind bars, insisting there was no way to guarantee she would stay in the community if released. They also expressed concern for the safety of the community. Prosecutors asserted that Clenney made more than $900,000 in 2020 and more than $1.8 million in 2021 from her OnlyFans work.
The defense countered that Clenney’s money was tied up with the recent purchase of a house and payment of attorneys’ fees. In addition, she is not currently working. In short, she is “bereft of any kind of funds to survive outside of the jurisdiction.” After Judge Cruz denied bond, the defense presented an alternative to house arrest, suggesting Clenney could stay at a certain in-patient treatment program which agreed to take her in. Cruz refused.
Prosecutors say Clenney stabbed Obumseli in an up close and personal way. Anticipating a knife throwing-related defense last month, one prosecutor asked Miami-Dade County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kenneth Hutchins if he was a “knife-throwing expert.”
“No, I am not,” Hutchins said. “I don’t know whether the person who is charged with this is a knife thrower. As a hypothetical, my opinion is it was a stab wound.”
Prosecutors have alleged that the angle and the depth of the fatal wound suggest that the knife was not thrown.
The state has released a number of videos in which Clenney verbally chewing out Obumseli, even hitting him or calling him the N-Word. She is white, and he was Black. The victim had taken most of recordings, all in apparent secret. The visuals are usually obscured, however.
In one video, Obumseli implied that Clenney was mad at him because he said hi to another woman during a bike ride.
“My bad,” Obumseli said, apparently exasperated. “I said, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ I’m going on a bike ride, and I forgot to tell you that I ran into somebody. Is that going to make you act like this?”
In another clip, Obumseli pleaded with Clenney to get inside a car. He apologized for calling her stupid.
She claimed he was not protecting her.
“Somebody was being horrible to me,” she said. “You defended them.”
A male bystander got involved and attempted to defuse the situation.
“I saw you banging your head,” the man said, apparently addressing Clenney. “That’s not good. I don’t want you to hurt myself.”
Cruz last month ruled over whether the defendant had an expectation of privacy during such videos, at least when taken inside her apartment. The answer was no if Clenney was screaming loud enough to disturb neighbors. Evidence suggested that was the case. Accordingly, several exhibits were omitted but one was not.
Neighbors in both Florida and back in Texas had reportedly complained about the couple’s arguments.
The defense has argued that Obumseli was the real abuser.
Colin Kalmbacher and Aaron Keller contributed to this report.
[Screenshot via Law&Crime Network]
