MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 26-year-old model accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death with a kitchen knife appeared in Miami-Dade County court on Tuesday during an evidentiary hearing in the murder case. She wanted evidence kept private. The judge said, no.
Prosecutors said Courtney Clenney, who had a large following on OnlyFans and Instagram, stabbed her 27-year-old boyfriend, Christian “Toby” Obumseli, on April 3 in an apartment at the One Paraiso Residences, at 3131 NE 7 Ave., in Miami’s Edgewater neighborhood.
Attorney Frank Prieto, who is representing Clenney, said he is concerned about sexually explicit content that could taint a future jury during a murder trial.
“This is going to become a circus,” Prieto said in court.
Prieto filed a motion for a protective order and injunctive relief and said the state has thousands of photos and videos of the model since detectives seized cell phones.
The prosecution and an attorney for The Miami Herald opposed the motion to seal evidence in the case. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Diana Vizcaino denied the motion on Tuesday.
Authorities in Hawaii arrested Clenney, also known as Courtney Taylor, on Aug. 10, more than four months after Obumseli was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Hospital after a judge issued a warrant for her arrest. Her attorney said she had been getting treatment in a rehabilitation facility in Hawaii.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office released a video on Aug. 11 showing Clenney striking Obumseli inside of an elevator about two months before the murder.
Clenney’s defense attorney said the video doesn’t tell the full story since she was a victim of domestic abuse and the stabbing on April 3 was an act of self-defense.
Clenney, of Austin, Texas, told police officers Obumseli had pushed her and she had thrown the knife at him. State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the evidence shows differently.
“The knife entered Christian’s chest at a downward angle to the depth of three inches,” Fernandez Rundle said.
Clenney is facing a second-degree murder charge with a weapon in Miami-Dade. She pleaded not guilty on Aug. 15.
After authorities extradited Clenney from Hawaii to Florida, Miami-Dade corrections officers booked her on Aug. 26 at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. She was denied bond on Aug. 27.
The court’s docket shows a felony sounding is scheduled for 9:35 a.m., on Dec. 8, and there is a trial hearing set for 9:30 a.m., on Dec. 19.
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