Courtney Clenney Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter, Gets Six Years for Killing Christian Obumseli

Courtney Clenney was sentenced to six years in prison on Monday as she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the April 2022 stabbing of her boyfriend in their Miami apartment.

Clenney, 30, was facing second-degree murder charges in the April 3, 2022 death of Christian Obumseli, 27, at the One Paraiso condo located in the Edgewater area of Miami. If found guilty, Clenney would face life in prison, but she came up with a deal with the prosecutors of Miami-Dade.

According to the deal, Clenney will serve six years behind bars with time served credits, in addition to five years of probation, as per the report from NBC6 South Florida. She was arrested on August 15, 2022, and has been jailed without bond; thus, Clenney is expected to stay in jail for a further two years.

It also required Clenney to undergo a mental health evaluation and substance abuse treatment, as well as not derive any financial benefits from the case.

Clenney gained a following of approximately 2 million subscribers on Instagram as Courtney Tailor and did not deny stabbing Obumseli, but she defended herself against an abusive partner. Her lawyer, Frank Prieto, added that Clenney stabbed Obumseli by throwing a kitchen knife from a distance to defend herself.

The Miami-Dade medical examiner stated that Obumseli died due to a forceful downward stab that penetrated three inches into his chest and into a major artery. The state attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle stated that, in the period when Clenney was arrested, the killing was the final chapter in a difficult relationship that started back in November 2020.

The prosecutors also had enough proof for the trial, which included video evidence of Clenney hitting Obumseli in an elevator and slapping him while traveling to Aspen two months prior to the killing, as per the reports from Local 10 News.

The Obumselis’ family members had become a part of the plea talks and were going to read impact statements of victims at Monday’s hearing. According to their family attorney Larry Handfield, accepting responsibility might help the family to come to terms with what happened.

Clenney was arrested in Hawaii on August 10, 2022, where her lawyer claimed that she was receiving treatment for PTSD and substance abuse. Clenney’s parents were previously charged with illegal access to Obumseli’s computer; however, the charges were later dropped. Clenney’s lawyers were going to hold a press conference after the hearing.