LOS ANGELES — A 41-year-old Minnesota man charged with the killing of a model who was severely beaten, bound, gagged and stuffed inside the refrigerator of her downtown Los Angeles apartment pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of murder and torture.
Magnus Daniel Humphrey was ordered to remain jailed without bail pending his next court appearance March 7, in connection with the September 2023 killing of Maleesa Mooney, 31.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Humphrey, who was on probation for federal narcotics offenses, was arrested at his home in Minnesota on an unrelated federal warrant. He waived extradition proceedings and was brought back to Los Angeles, where he appeared in a downtown courtroom Thursday.
Mooney, the sister of Guyanese pop singer Jourdin Pauline, was found dead in her apartment in the 200 block of South Figueroa Street around 3:55 p.m. Sept. 12.
According to court records, Humphrey was charged on Dec. 6 with murder and torture, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. The murder charge includes a special allegation of torture.
No details were immediately released on what led investigators to Humphrey.
“We are very pleased that an arrest was made,” a woman who said she was Mooney’s aunt told reporters outside the courthouse following Thursday’s hearing. “We’re full of so many different emotions. We are very grateful and thankful that he was caught. Please continue to pray for our family. We just want justice for my niece.”
According to an autopsy report, 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…
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