Parents of Courtney Clenney, an Instagram and OnlyFans model accused of fatally stabbing her boyfriend in their Miami apartment in 2022, were arrested in Texas in connection with the investigation of their daughter.
Kim and Deborah Clenney were booked on Tuesday in the Travis County Jail in Austin and accused of unauthorized access to an electronic device in connection with their daughter’s case, according to booking records and arrest warrants obtained by HuffPost.
Courtney Clenney, also known as Courtney Tailor to 2 million of her Instagram followers, was arrested in Hawaii in August 2022 and charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of Christian Obumseli, her boyfriend of two years.
Speaking at a news conference following her arrest, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Courtney Clenney and Obumseli were in “an extremely tempestuous and combative relationship,” which resulted in multiple complaints, threats and 911 calls.
Video obtained by WSVN-TV in Miami shows an incident in February 2022 that appears to show Courtney Clenney attacking Obumseli in an elevator as he pushes her away.
Obumseli was found dead on April 3, 2022, inside their apartment with visible stab wounds.
According to Rundle, Clenney allegedly gave police inconsistent statements that did not match with the medical examiner’s findings.
During questioning, Clenney allegedly claimed she fought Obumselli in self-defense and that she threw a knife at him only after he had grabbed her by the throat, Rundle said.
Rundle said medical examiners later found that Obuseli’s injuries did not match Clenney’s account and instead showed he suffered a deep knife wound by someone close.
Investigators said they found text messages between Deborah and Kim Clenney, their daughter’s lawyer and three others, according to the arrest warrants filed in Miami against the parents.
Police said in the warrant that the parents acquired Obumseli’s laptop after the killing and discussed how to access it with attorneys Frank Prieto and Sabrina Puglisi.
Kim Clenney allegedly messaged the group chat on Sept. 23, 2022, asking his daughter’s lawyers whether she gave them any potential password for Obumseli’s laptop, according to the warrant.
Prieto replied, “Yes. Sabrina and I have a list. We will provide,” according to the warrant.
Police said in the warrant that Courtney Clenney’s parents and her attorney continued to discuss potential passwords to access Obumseli’s laptop until the father found it on Sept. 30, 2022.
Prieto told the father in the group chat to “hold off on going through the computer,” police alleged in the warrant.
“I don’t want to turn you into a witness just yet if you find something useful,” Prieto reportedly said in a message.
The group then allegedly discussed shipping Obumseli’s laptop to Prieto.
Prieto, Puglisi and others named in the group chat and identified in the warrant have not been charged. Prieto’s law office did not respond to 360aproko request for a statement.
In a statement to ABC affiliate WPLG-TV in Miami, Prieto said he was “extremely surprised and very concerned” about the Clenneys’ arrests, calling them an “example of prosecutorial overreach and misconduct.”
Prieto alleged that prosecutors are filing charges against the Clenneys as a possible attempt to “manipulate media headlines and discredit them.”
“We believe the Clenney family has been targeted with some trumped up charges to discredit them in the press and make their lives miserable,” Prieto said in the statement. “It stinks of a power play by prosecutors to control the narrative.”
Kim Wald, one of the attorneys representing Obumseli’s family in a separate civil case, told 360aproko that the family is very supportive of law enforcement and that the state attorney’s office has continued its investigation into their son’s death.
“You know, they’re really saddened to hear that the Clenney family not only had this laptop but actually broke into and accessed the laptop,” Wald said.
Wald told HuffPost that following their son’s death, Obumseli’s family had “begged” the Clenneys for months to give their son’s belongings to them, including his laptop.
Wald also addressed Courtney Clenney’s attorneys alleged role in the parents’ charges, calling it “a sad day” for the legal profession when “you see attorneys mentioned in an arrest warrant.”
