Courtney Clenney bond hearing: Judge to rule next month if model accused of killing her boyfriend can be released
MIAMI - A Miami-Dade County Superior Court judge heard arguments on whether bond should be issued for a social media model accused in the stabbing death of her boyfriend.
The hearing was intended to determine if Courtney Clenney, 26, would be released on bond but after hours of testimony and statements from prosecutors and the defense, Circuit Judge Laura Shearon Cruz said she will announce her decision about bond at a hearing at a hearing on Dec. 8 at 9:30 a.m.
Prosecutors have argued that with the money Clenney has made on sites like Only Fans she could be a flight risk.
She earned over $900,000 in 2020 and more than $1.8 million the following year.
Clenney, whose real name is Courtney Tailor and who has more than two million followers on Instagram, is charged with second-degree murder with a deadly weapon in the stabbing death of Christian Toby Obumseli at One Paraiso in April.
According to the arrest warrant, Clenney claimed she threw the knife at Obumseli from 10 feet away, but a graphic description from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner's Office revealed Obumseli suffered from a knife wound three inches deep. The type of wound, they say, is caused by forceful pressure.
Clenney's attorney contends she was defending herself from Obumseli when the stabbing occurred.
She has pleaded not guilty.
Clenney, wearing a red jail jumpsuit, was in court for the hearing and listened as her father, Kim Clenney, testified that his daughter had been mistreated by her boyfriend.
"There's no question that she was a victim of domestic violence," attorney Sabrina Puglisi said. "And like any parent out there, he loves his daughter and is very upset about the situation."
Attorney Frank Prieto said Clenney deserves bond.
"All the evidence presented in court made it very clear that she is not a danger to the community and is not a flight risk," he said, adding that she had been a victim of mental abuse and violence from her boyfriend.
The defense showed photos of her with bruises on her body and fights with Obumsell.
Prieto said the maximum charge should be manslaughter.
The defense is asking that their client be released to her parents and be confined to their home but be required to wear a GPS monitor.
Assistant State Attorney Shawn Abuhoff said that Clenney had a history of attacking her boyfriend and said he clearly died from a stab wound.
Prosecutors said it was not a case of self defense, arguing that Clenney had problems with substance abuse and was inconsistent with her stories about what happened between the couple.
Clenney's bond hearing got underway last Tuesday. During that proceeding, she was visibly emotional after the 911 call of the fatal stabbing was played in court. On it, you can hear her saying I'm sorry to the dispatcher.
A Miami police detective told the court earlier that investigators initially believed the stabbing was in self defense until they gathered more evidence.
One piece of evidence is a video showing Clenney attacking Obumseli in an elevator just two months before the deadly stabbing.
Another hot topic in the courtroom was a series of damaging recordings made by Obumseli where you can hear her yelling racial slurs and cursing at him. The defense said those recordings should be inadmissible.