Miami OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney’s lawyers returned to court Thursday to argue before a judge why she should bond out of jail before she’s tried for second-degree murder in the killing of her boyfriend.
The defense argued she was legally justified when she killed boyfriend Christian Obumseli in the couple’s Edgewater high-rise apartment in April. Clenney was arrested and charged in August.
“No ands, ifs, or buts about it. She called [911] immediately. She acted in self-defense,” said defense attorney, Frank Prieto.
Prosecutors want to keep Clenney in jail. They say wasn’t the victim in what was a toxic relationship, but the aggressor.
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“The victim is dead. That is certain. And it’s certain that she did it," said a prosecutor. "And the only evidence before your honor in regards to self-defense is her statement, which has been riddled with inconsistencies and lies."
Clenney claims she threw a knife at Obumseli as he attacked her inside their apartment.
Prosecutors say evidence revealed a close contact stab wound, not a knife being thrown at the victim.
The chief medical examiner took the stand to offer his opinion.
“As a hypothetical my opinion is, it was a stab wound. But if you give me other information that the person is a knife thrower and they throw knives and they throw them into targets and whatnot, then maybe this could have been a knife that was thrown,” said Dr. Kenneth D. Hutchins, Chief Medical Examiner of Miami-Dade County.
Both sides saw the medical examiner’s testimony as a win.
Prosecutors say her knife-throwing story doesn’t add up. The state painted a picture of Clenney abused Obumseli physically and mentally.
They pointed to threatening text messages, instances of Clenney hitting him, and her Las Vegas arrest in 2021 on domestic abuse charges.
“She could not have thrown that knife. So what do we have? We have a stab wound," a prosecutor said. "That is the medical examiner’s opinion. And as a result of that stab wound the victim is dead."
But Clenney’s attorneys tell a different story, and pointed out that the medical examiner could not rule out her claim of throwing the knife.
The defense says Clenney was the victim of domestic abuse in the relationship, trapped in a toxic situation, and showed body camera video of her trying to get a restraining order two days before the killing.
Her attorneys recounted instances of the couple’s neighbors claiming to have witnessed Obumseli physically harm Clenney.
“The event in the dog park where Obumseli aggressively grabbed Courtney by the tricep. [The neighbor] was so concerned that he stayed watching in case something ‘went down,” Prieto said.
Both sides of the courtroom agree the couple’s relationship was toxic, which her father testified to under oath Thursday.
“I knew from the beginning [Obumseli] was not treating her correctly. I saw it with my own eyes,” said her father, Kim Clenney.
Kim Clenney said his daughter doesn’t have the money to be a flight risk, and said he’d feel safe having her back at home if she gets to bond out.
The attorney representing the Obumseli family, Larry Hanfield, spoke before the judge.
“[The family] believes she should not be given the privilege of a bond,” Hanfield said.
If she’s allowed to bond out, the defense has asked for Clenney to be released on house arrest, where she would live with her parents in Texas.
The next hearing is set for Dec. 8.
