Maleesa Mooney, a model who was the sister of Guyanese pop star Jourdin Pauline, died by homicide, according to an autopsy report released this month.
The body of Mooney, 31, was found Sept. 12 in a refrigerator in her luxury high-rise apartment in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. The autopsy report, dated Oct. 18 but obtained Monday, includes the results of drug testing that can take months to complete.
Police officers discovered Mooney’s body after her mother, apparently worried because she hadn’t been in touch, asked the manager of the high-rise to check on her, according to the report.
It was the second time Los Angeles police officers had conducted a welfare check on Mooney’s residence that month, it said. Two days earlier, officers checking on her at the behest of her sister knocked on the apartment’s door and left after there was no answer, according to the report.
On Sept. 12 they had the help of the building’s manager, who let them in with a key, the report said. Inside, they noticed that food normally stored in a refrigerator was on a counter.
They opened the refrigerator and found Mooney inside, her wrists and ankles bound and her mouth gagged — all with clothing and other items, such as cords, the report said. An article of clothing was also wrapped around her neck, it said.
Security video showed her arriving at the residence with a woman and a man on Sept. 5, the report said. Elevator video from the next day is the last imagery of her alive, it said.
A man was seen on security video using Mooney’s security key to access elevators on Sept. 7, the report said. He carried plastic bags to the apartment, it said.
Mooney moved into the Figueroa Street building at the beginning of August, and on Sept. 9 she had been expected to return to her last residence to retrieve the rest of her belongings, according to the report.
When she didn’t show up, family members became concerned, it said, and her mother asked for the first…
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