Crime & Justice

911 Call Reveals Model’s Panic as Boyfriend Dies of Knife Wound

UGLY FINISH

Police say Instagram Influencer Courtney Clenney fatally stabbed the man she had long abused.

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Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Instagram

Minutes after Courtney Clenney allegedly murdered Christian Obumseli inside their 22nd-floor condo in April, the OnlyFans influencer frantically called Miami police for help.

“My boyfriend is dying of a stab wound!” Clenney is heard saying in the 911 call, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Beast. She is also heard apologizing as dogs bark in the background.

“Please God, please. Come save my boyfriend,” she adds.

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In the background, Obumseli can be heard screaming at one point: “I’m going to die. I can’t feel my arms. I can’t feel my arms.”

The April 3 call came after prosecutors say the 26-year-old Instagram influencer stabbed Obumseli, 27, in the heart at the One Paraiso luxury complex. Clenney was charged in August with second-degree murder after she allegedly told police that she had thrown a knife at Obumseli when he was 10 feet away during an argument.

Clenney’s defense attorney, Frank Prieto, told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that “the 911 call that Courtney made to get help for Obumseli captures the chaos, confusion, and raw emotion Courtney experienced after she was forced to defend herself.”

“The audio of Courtney’s call to 911 is clearly not an admission of guilt; it is a human and humane reaction to the traumatic events and actions she took to save her life that night,” he added. “As with many victims of domestic violence, Courtney allowed her abuser back into her apartment despite knowing their relationship was toxic; however, her actions that evening were taken in defense of her own life.”

Larry Handfield, a lawyer representing the Obsumseli family, told the Miami Herald, which first published the audio, that the 911 call shows Clenney’s “state of mind.”

“She’s saying she’s sorry because she’s realizing what she’s done,” Handfield told the newspaper. “She’s not saying, ‘I was defending myself.’”

According to an arrest warrant obtained by The Daily Beast, an autopsy report later revealed that Obumseli suffered a “stab wound to the chest… and that the knife punctured the subclavian artery.”

The grisly incident came after months of what prosecutors described as a volatile relationship between Clenney and Obumseli. Among the domestic violence incidents involving them, prosecutors said, was a February 2022 fight in their apartment building’s elevator, where Clenney is seen striking Obumseli while he tries to ward her off.

Two days before the murder, Clenney told police that Obumseli was “stalking” her after she broke up with him. In body-camera footage obtained by The Daily Beast, Clenney is seen telling officers that she wanted a restraining order against him—while also suggesting allegations of physical violence against her were “not really a concern.”

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On April 3, prosecutors say, the couple were having a peaceful day before Obumseli left to get them sandwiches in the afternoon. Around 4 p.m., the warrant states that Clenney called Obumseli before going live on her Instagram.

Half an hour later, Clenney called her boyfriend again—before calling her mother, who told police she heard the pair in an argument. Clenney called her mom again at 4:49 p.m. for about seven minutes.

One minute later, the warrant states, Clenney called 911, saying that Obumseli had suffered a stab wound. In the frantic call, an emergency dispatcher is asking Clenney multiple questions while the model and her boyfriend are screaming in the background. In the chaotic three-minute call, Clenney can be heard saying that “he has a stab wound on his shoulder.”

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” she screams, before telling 911 he is “bleeding from his shoulder.”

As the dispatcher continues to ask Clenney questions, she suddenly cuts off. “She just kept screaming on the line that he was dying and she kept apologizing,” the dispatcher told an emergency responder, according to the call.

The warrant states that when officers arrived at the apartment, there was “blood on the kitchen island dripping to the master bedroom/bathroom and back to the living room.” There was also a knife by the living room couch next to a bloody bedsheet.

“There was additionally a blood trail leading from the living room to the guest room,” the warrant states. “At the entrance of the guest bedroom, there was a puddle of coagulated blood and blood transfer on the wall, evidencing that the victim collapsed in this room before attempting to return toward the front door.”

Officers found Obumseli in Clenney’s arms in “another puddle of coagulated blood.” Prosecutors note that the amount of blood in the apartment suggests Obumseli was “bleeding for an extend[ed] period before police arrived.”

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