Defendant Courtney Clenney, Miami OnlyFans model accused of murdering boyfriend, sits at Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Laura Sheron Cruz, courtroom at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse in Miami, Florida, on Thursday, December 19, 2024. Attorneys Sabrina Vora-Puglisi Frank Prieto
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ
adiaz@miamiherald.com
An OnlyFans model who stabbed her boyfriend to death inside a luxury Miami high-rise stood in front of a judge Monday morning and pleaded guilty. She’ll serve about two years in prison.
Courtney Clenney — sandwiched by her attorneys and wearing orange jail attire — pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a charge lesser than second-degree murder. Clenney, 30, was accused of killing her boyfriend Christian Obumseli, 27, on April 3, 2022, inside One Paraiso, a condo complex at 3100 NE Seventh Ave. in Edgewater.
The plea was the result of a deal Clenney and her legal team struck with prosecutors. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson sentenced Clenney to six years in prison followed by five years on probation, as per the negotiated agreement.
Clenney will receive credit for the nearly four years she served in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. While on probation, Clenney will have to complete a mental health and substance abuse evaluation as well as any necessary treatment.
READ MORE: OnlyFans model accused of stabbing boyfriend to death strikes deal with prosecutors
“Today closes a legal chapter, but it certainly doesn’t close our grief,” Obumseli’s cousin Karen Egbuna said as she read out a letter written by his mother. “No sentence, no plea, can bring back my son to me.”
Egbuna was surrounded by several of Obumseli’s loved ones, including his mother, as she addressed the court. Several of members of the Obumseli family embraced.
Obumseli’s mother, Egbuna said, was called by doctors while she was at work the day he died. They asked for consent to donate his eyes — and that’s how she learned Obumseli had been killed by someone he “had trusted and loved.”
Using her cuffed hands, Clenney wiped her eyes with tissues.
“Four years later, there are still nights where I cannot sleep,” the letter said. “There are moments that I go back to the last moments of Christian’s life.”
Clenney closed her eyes Monday as prosecutor Shawn Abuhoff said she was admitting that she caused Obumseli’s fatal stab wound. Although not part of the plea agreement, Abuhoff said a state law bars Clenney from financially benefit from the killing.
Clenney — an OnlyFans model who at one point boasted more than 2 million followers — has been jailed since August 2022. She was arrested in Hawaii four months after, police say, she stabbed Obumseli in the chest. Evidence from the case detailed a tumultuous relationship between the jet-setting couple.
The couple started dating in 2020 and had a history of domestic violence.
Police say Instagram model Courtney Clenney fatally stabbed Christian “Toby” Obumseli on April 3, 2022 in Miami. Defense attorneys are arguing that she acted in self-defense. Instagram and Facebook A cold killing or self-defense?
Defense attorneys argued that Clenney — who was in a tumultuous, toxic relationship with Obumseli — was a victim of battered women’s syndrome and was “forced to take action in the defense of her life.” Clenney called 911 immediately instead of letting her boyfriend bleed out, which the attorney claims supports Clenney being charged with manslaughter instead of second-degree murder.
Clenney claimed to have thrown the knife at Obumseli from a distance of over 10 feet, but prosecutors say an autopsy revealed a puncture wound so deep it could only have been caused by an up-close and personal stabbing.
Evidence of the unstable relationship was captured on surveillance footage — and audio recorded by Obumseli.
READ MORE: Watch: Miami OnlyFans model attacks boyfriend months before cops say she murdered him
Two months before Obumseli was killed, Clenney attacked him in an elevator. As Clenney became enraged, Obumseli threw his hands up in defense, and Clenney continued swinging on him, the video showed.
During the less than a minute-long elevator ride, the duo trading blows, according to the video. Clenney slapped and pushed Obumseli as he walked out of the elevator.
Obumseli chronicled their arguments in a series of recordings, which caught Clenney angrily screaming, berating and cursing him out using racist slurs. In one of the audio files, Clenney appears to be enraged because he didn’t tell her that he said hello to a female acquaintance while on a bicycle ride. Clenney calls Obumseli the n-word multiple times, and tells him to “man up b—-” and to “shut up and let me slap you, dumb a–!”
Clenney’s defense team tried to get those audio recordings thrown out, arguing they were inadmissible evidence because they were taken while Clenney was in private, in her home, and have no relevance to the crime.
This story was originally published August 10, 2026 at 10:25 AM.
Miami Herald
Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.