A Minnesota man's been arrested in connection to the brutal killing of a Los Angeles-based model.
41-year-old Magnus Humphrey was arrested at his home in Hopkins, Minnesota Wednesday on an unrelated federal warrant according to Los Angeles Police. Humphrey is on federal probation for narcotics offenses.
His arrest comes after 31-year-old Maleesa Mooney was found beaten, bound, and stuffed inside a refrigerator at her Los Angeles apartment last September.
On September 12, 2023, around 4:00 p.m., LAPD Central Area officers responded to a radio call of a welfare check in the 200 block of Figueroa Street. Officers searched the residence and located Mooney deceased inside.
Investigators haven't disclosed a motive or if the two knew each other.
According KNX Radio in Los Angeles, the autopsy report revealed Mooney's body showed evidence of blunt force trauma, including abrasions, lacerations and contusions around her head and neck, body and extremities.
According to the Medical Examiner report, Mooney was last seen alive Sept. 6 on surveillance video at her apartment complex. Police went to her apartment Sept. 12 in response to a call from her mother requesting a welfare check.
Responding officers "found Ms. Mooney's body wedged inside the refrigerator" with blood on the floor outside of it, according to the autopsy report.
The woman's wrists and ankles were bound, "and these bindings were tied to each other behind her back with miscellaneous electronic cords and clothing items. Additional clothing items were found around her face and neck. An apparent gag, fashioned out of an article of clothing, was stuffed in her mouth," according to the report.
The Medical Examiner's report noted that toxicology testing found evidence of recent cocaine use.
The report noted that the blunt force trauma injuries she suffered "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," according to the report.
The report notes that suffocation may have played a role in her death, and the role that alcohol or drugs may have played "is uncertain."
The report concluded by labeling the death a homicide, caused by "homicidal violence."
The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office filed murder charges against Humphrey. Humphrey waived extradition and will be transported back to Los Angeles to face charges.
