A tragic and chilling incident has sent shockwaves through downtown Los Angeles, as the life of 31-year-old model Maleesa Mooney took a dark and violent turn.
An autopsy report recently released by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has revealed the horrifying details of her death, stating that she was severely beaten, bound, and gagged, with her lifeless body ultimately discovered inside a refrigerator in her apartment.
The harrowing discovery was made in the apartment on the 200 block of South Figueroa Street at approximately 3:55 p.m. on September 12. The cause of her death remained undisclosed initially, but the police had already initiated a homicide investigation.
Coincidentally, Mooney’s tragic end followed another grim discovery just two days prior when 32-year-old model Nichole Coats was found dead in another downtown apartment, located less than three miles away. The police later ruled that the two cases were unrelated, determining Coats’ cause of death as accidental, resulting from “cocaine and ethanol toxicity.”
The recent autopsy report on Maleesa Mooney’s demise indicated signs of blunt force trauma, which included abrasions, lacerations, and contusions on her head and neck, as well as her body and extremities. Disturbingly, the report also detailed how Mooney was last seen alive on surveillance footage on September 6 within her apartment complex. It wasn’t until her mother requested a welfare check that the police responded to the tragic scene on September 12.
Inside her apartment, officers found Maleesa Mooney’s lifeless body wedged inside the refrigerator, accompanied by a pool of blood on the floor nearby. She was bound at her wrists and ankles, and the bindings were secured behind her back using various electronic cords and clothing items. Additionally, items of clothing were discovered around her face and neck, and a makeshift gag, fashioned from an article of clothing, was stuffed into her mouth.
Toxicology testing indicated recent cocaine use. However, the blunt force trauma injuries alone were not typically considered acutely life-threatening. Nonetheless, given the circumstances of how she was found, these injuries pointed to a violent altercation preceding her death.
The autopsy report also suggested that suffocation may have played a role in her demise, and it remains uncertain whether alcohol or drugs were involved in the tragic event. The report ultimately concluded that Maleesa Mooney’s death was a result of homicidal violence.
