A state judge on Hawaii island ordered an OnlyFans and Instagram model charged with murder for allegedly fatally stabbing her boyfriend in April to be held without bail pending her extradition to Florida.
Courtney Taylor Clenney, aka “Courtney Tailor,” 26, who has more than 2 million followers on her Instagram account, was charged with second-degree murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the fatal stabbing of Christian “Toby” Obumseli at an apartment the couple shared in Miami, according to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.
Clenney made her initial appearance at 1:30 p.m. Thursday before Judge Henry T. Nakamoto in Hilo and waived her right to an extradition hearing.
Her attorney in Hawaii, deputy public defender Patrick Munoz, asked Nakamoto to block a request for extended media coverage, arguing that the international media and public interest in the case could hurt Clenney’s ability to receive a fair trial. Nakamoto permitted media coverage, noting, “We are not in Florida at this point, and it’s just a hearing.”
Munoz also argued that Clenney deserved bail. Hawaii County deputy prosecuting attorney Jeff Malate countered that the no-bail warrant from Florida should be honored and that Clenney was also facing warrants for her arrest in Nevada and Texas. “This defendant has the resources to flee,” said Malate.
Nakamoto said the outstanding warrants did not play into his decision to honor the no-bail warrant from Florida. He said given the “serious nature” of the allegations, the court will “maintain” no bail.
Clenney was arrested Wednesday in Hakalau by Hawaii Police Department officers and U.S. marshals executing a Florida arrest warrant. Clenney’s attorney has said she was in Hawaii for rehabilitation for substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.
At a news conference held Thursday in Miami, a reporter asked why Miami police and prosecutors had not permitted Clenney to turn herself in following the four-month-long homicide investigation. In response, Rundle said, “She (Clenney) was far away. I’m told that she was on a remote island. … As much as we would like to have done that (let her surrender), we felt that … the right thing to do was to go and get her and secure her presence.”
Rundle told reporters that evidence gathered during the investigation showed that since November 2020, Clenney and Obumseli had been involved in an “extremely tempestuous and combative relationship.”
On April 3, management of the Miami apartment complex called 911 at 4:46 p.m. to report a “disturbance” in the pair’s apartment. Eleven minutes later Clenney called 911 and told the operator that Obumseli had sustained a stab wound and needed help, according to court documents filed in Florida.
“On that call, the victim can be heard repeatedly saying he is dying and cannot feel his arm. The defendant is also heard saying, ‘I’m so sorry baby,’” according to the affidavit. Clenney said Obumseli pushed her against the wall and threw her to the ground before she threw a kitchen knife at him from 10 feet away.
Miami-Dade County Chief Medical Examiner Kenneth Hutchins determined that the cause of Obumseli’s death was a “stab wound to the chest and the manner of death was homicide,” according to an affidavit filed in Florida in support of an arrest warrant.
Frank A. Prieto, Clenney’s attorney in Florida, said in a statement to news media that he objected to Rundle airing a video at Thursday’s news conference that showed Clenney attacking Obumseli with her hands in an elevator of the apartment complex. Obumseli is seen defending himself after initially weathering blows.
It is “inappropriate for prosecutors to try and taint the community” against Clenney to the point she might not receive a fair trial, said Prieto. “The video does not depict the events leading up to what was captured in the elevator. Obumseli was the abuser, the worst kind of abuser,” said Prieto. “He would manipulate and abuse Courtney in private when he thought nobody was around.”
Rundle made a point during the news conference to encourage men and women involved in relationships plagued by domestic violence to seek help immediately.
“The violent and toxic two-year relationship … did not have to end in tragedy with Christian’s murder as a victim of domestic violence,” said Rundle during the news conference. “Domestic violence is a crime that no one should tolerate.”
Affidavit by Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Scribd
