Murder or self-defense? Family wants answers after model stabs boyfriend

MIAMI – Christian “Toby” Obumseli’s family was at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office on Friday in search of answers.

Officers reported responding to several disturbances at the One Paraiso apartment that Obumseli and his girlfriend Courtney Clenney shared in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.

On April 3rd, officers were there again, at 3131 NE 7th, and found Obumseli bleeding. Miami Fire Rescue personnel took him to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center where a doctor later pronounced him dead. He was 27.

“My brother ... he was so caring,” Jeffrey Obumseli, of Texas, told reporters outside of the State Attorney’s Office.

A neighbor said he had seen Christian Obumseli swinging at Clenney, 25, better known as Courtney Tailor, a model on Instagram and OnlyFans. A witness video published on TMZ shows Clenney near the balcony. Her clothes appeared to be full of blood.

“Clearly, none of this was intended and Courtney is struggling mentally with the aftermath of what occurred that evening,” Clenney’s attorney wrote in a statement adding, “Courtney was defending herself.”

In Florida, officers can commit a person to a mental health treatment center for up to 72 hours by using the state’s Baker Act. Detectives were still investigating the fatal stabbing on Friday, so prosecutors had yet to announce if they were filing charges against Clenney.

“We’ve seen her hit him; I have never seen him hit her,” Christian Obumseli’s friend Ashley Vaughn said earlier this week.

Attorney Karen Egbuna, Obumseli’s relative, told reporters on Friday that his family needs answers.

“We finally told our 93-year-old grandmother that her grandson who was expected to come home to Texas for his 28th birthday would no longer or ever be returning home,” Egbuna said.

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Read Clenney’s attorney’s statement

Courtney Clenney's attorney released a statement on Friday. (.)

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About the Authors
Alex Finnie headshot

Alex Finnie joined the Local 10 News team in May 2018. South Florida is home! She was raised in Miami and attended the Cushman School and New World School of the Arts for high school.

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The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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