Model Maleesa Mooney’s death was ruled a homicide after autopsy reports showed that she was found dead inside her refrigerator. Her death has officially been ruled as “homicidal violence.”
Authorities found Mooney in her apartment in downtown Los Angeles on September 12.
She was beaten, gagged and bound before the perpetrator stuffed her body into a refrigerator.
Blood was found outside of the refrigerator on the floor. Officials reported that she was tied “with miscellaneous electronic cords and clothing items.”
Other clothes were wrapped around her neck and face and used to gag her.
The model was last seen on September 6 after being spotted on a video surveillance camera at her apartment.
Her mother requested that the authorities conduct a welfare check after not hearing from her daughter.
It was also found that Mooney had undergone blunt-force trauma, which included several lacerations, abrasions and contusions all over her body.
She also had traces of alcohol and cocaine in her system, but it is “uncertain” if these are related to her death.
The medical examiner concluded: “The blunt force traumatic injuries observed at autopsy are generally not considered acutely life-threatening on their own. However, based on the circumstances of how Ms. Mooney was found, these injuries suggest she was likely involved in a violent physical altercation prior to her death.”
At the time of her death, Mooney was two months pregnant.
The family, including Mooney’s boyfriend, have been “heartbroken” since hearing the news.
So far no arrests have been made in connection to the case.
Mooney’s body was found just two days after another model was also found dead in downtown L.A.
Initially, there were worries about a potential serial killer, but authorities have declared that the two cases are not related.
Model Nichole Coats passed away on September 10 as per the autopsy from “cocaine and ethanol toxicity” and had been ruled as an accident.
