The family of a man allegedly fatally stabbed by his social media model girlfriend in their luxury Miami condo has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
The family of Christian Obumseli and their attorneys announced Tuesday that they've filed the lawsuit against his former girlfriend, Courtney Clenney, the property owner of the couple's Edgewater condo, One Paraiso, as well as the management company and the security company.
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The 27-year-old Obumseli was found fatally stabbed in his unit in the building on April 3, 2022.
Clenney, now 27, was arrested in August on a second-degree murder charge in the killing.
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Miami-Dade prosecutors have said that Obumseli was the victim of domestic violence, but Clenney's attorneys have said she was the victim of an abusive relationship and that she stabbed him in self-defense.
Michael Haggard, who represents the Obumseli family, said Tuesday that there's evidence that the building, the management company and the security company, knew about the documented pattern of violence, allegedly by Clenney.
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Haggard pointed to at least six times where police were called to their unit in the months leading up to the deadly stabbing, along with internal incident reports.
"When you look at the evidence, here you see six calls to the police, six calls from that apartment complex detailing violence, detailing the same aggressor each time," Haggard said.
While the condo was in the process of evicting the couple in late March 2022, attorneys said it was for lack of payment.
"This was a murder that the civil defendants knew was going to happen," Haggard said. "Had the defendants done anything, had they had her evicted, had they had her thrown out, had they been more aggressive with the police and made any actions, this never occurs."
NBC 6 has reached out to the companies named in the lawsuit or their attorneys and was either told no comment or didn't receive a response.
Clenney's attorneys responded to the lawsuit in a statement Tuesday.
"The lawsuit filed by the Obumseli family ignores the fact that Courtney’s actions were taken in self-defense. To be clear, the lawsuit’s timing has nothing to do with the truth or justice; they raced to the courthouse steps in haste just prior to Governor DeSantis signing into law a massive tort reform bill that would limit or eliminate the family’s ability to make a money grab," the statement reads. "The lawsuit also ignores clear evidence that Courtney was abused and that Obumseli was her abuser; Courtney’s actions that evening were taken to save her life."
At a hearing in December, a Miami-Dade judge denied bond for Clenney while she awaits trial. Her next hearing is in July.
Clenney, who went by the name Courtney Tailor on social media including OnlyFans, has more than 2 million Instagram followers.
Karen Egbuna, Obumseli's cousin, also spoke Tuesday and said the family wants him to be remembered as the lighthearted, helpful and softspoken man he was.
She said it's also a reminder that men can be victims of domestic violence.
"I think this case has really brought up the dynamics and biases that we have when it comes to domestic violence, especially when the woman is the aggressor," Egbuna said. "It has really just opened our eyes, we're taking it day by day."
