The attorney for Courtney Clenney backed up her claims of self-defense when a recording of his client verbally abusing Christain Obumseli with a lot of n-words surfaced. In the months preceding Christian’s death, the police discovered that recording among others kept on his phone. Courtney is on trial for stabbing Obumseli in their Miami condo on April 3.
“The evidence makes it very clear the two were in a toxic and dysfunctional relationship. from which Courtney had asked for help from both police and her family to leave,” Clenney’s attorney Frank Prieto told TMZ.
Less than two minutes later, Courtney is taunting Christian with insults like “man up, bitch,” calling him the n-word repeatedly, and threatening and asking to slap him. In addition, she uses strong language to demand that he locate her phone and charge it.
Christian yells and shows confusion at Courtney’s raised voice throughout the audio. He offers her another reminder of his regrets. The argument appeared to have started when Christian walked by and said hi to a friend without telling Courtney.
Courtney’s Attorney Identifies Her as a Domestic Abuse Victim
Prieto didn’t offer an apology of any kind for his client’s use of racist language. He did, however, support the narratives of victimization from domestic abuse and self-defense.
“She’s not going to trial for her lifestyle, her previous arguments, or recorded rants. She is going to trial for defending herself against a violent struggle with her ex-boyfriend for which she feared for her life,” Prieto said. “Courtney is a victim of domestic abuse.”
Prieto continued, saying that presenting isolated bits of evidence could keep Courtney from receiving a fair trial.
Courtney was not listed by the police as a suspect at the time of the stabbing. She was taken into custody there but was later freed. She was also not named a suspect when footage of her blood-stained apartment surfaced. A few days later, Courtney was sitting with her father at a hotel bar when a woman approached her.
Just as much criticism of the videotaped exchange went viral as Christian’s now-resurfaced tweets disparaging Black women. In response to Courtney and his brother’s disparaging comparisons of Black women to white women, his brother Jeffrey issued a statement. The Obumseli family continued to demand justice in the statement while denouncing his insults.
“Courtney Clenney’s callous actions have not been met with an ounce of remorse. We’ve seen videos of Courtney kissing her dogs while covered in blood and casually getting drinks at a hotel bar days later while my brother lays in the morgue,” Jeffrey said. He added, “…the lack of transparency strongly suggests foul play was involved” and that the family had “every reason to believe that [Christian’s] death was the result of unwarranted and unprovoked violence. We want to see justice served.”
After Courtney is accused of murder by the police, footage of her attacking Christians surfaces.
Her arrest wasn’t scheduled for August, despite the family’s repeated requests for justice. She was being held at a Hawaii-based rehab center, purportedly for treatment of substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder. The 26-year-old was accused by the authorities of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
The same week, Courtney was seen on camera starting a brawl in a February 2021 elevator, according to video obtained by TMZ. She repeatedly lunged and swung at Christian, who tried to keep her at bay with his forearm before finally giving her a few shoves. Courtney is seen yanking his hair and punching his head while leaving the elevator on a separate floor.
By the end of August, despite Courtney’s attorney’s pleas for reduced charges, the judge turned down her request for bail. Since then, more information regarding the nature of their relationship has come to light.
Two days prior to the deadly stabbing, police were speaking with Courtney and a building employee, according to body camera footage that was made public in October. But the police didn’t seem to understand Courtney’s predicament. Despite the employee witnessing Christian “charging” at her, she asked for a restraining order against Christian and refused to mention any violent incidents that occurred the night of the call.
