What is Magnus Daniel Humphrey charged with? Minnesota man arrested months after LA model Maleesa Mooney found dead in apartment refrigerator 

Magnus Daniel Humphrey, a Minnesota man, was arrested for the murder of Los Angeles model Maleesa Mooney, who was stuffed inside her refrigerator in September 2023. In a press release on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department said Humphrey was identified as a suspect in Mooney‘s murder.

The department announced that the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has filed murder charges against Magnus Daniel Humphrey, who was arrested at his home in Minnesota on an unrelated federal warrant. As per FOX 11 LA, the murder charge includes a special allegation of murder during the commission of torture.

While police did not disclose details about the federal warrant, the suspect was on federal probation for narcotics offenses. Additional details in the case, including the suspect’s relationship with the victim, were not made public at the time of writing this article.

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Maleesa Mooney was two months pregnant at the time of her death

As previously reported, Maleesa Mooney, a 31-year-old model from Los Angeles, was found dead on September 12, 2023, in her downtown Los Angeles high-rise apartment by police, who responded to reports of a welfare check from concerned family members.

Mooney’s body was found in the refrigerator with her mouth gagged and her wrists and ankles bound together. According to Fox News, surveillance footage from the building showed a male using her key FOB to enter the elevator carrying plastic bags to her apartment.

Mooney, who was two months pregnant, worked as a real estate agent with NestSeekers International but was getting back into modeling at the time of her death.

According to the New York Post, a coroner's report revealed Mooney had suffered blunt force injuries to her face, head, back, and upper left arm, suggesting she was involved in a physical altercation. The report stated:

“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. Given this, the role that drugs and/or alcohol may have played in Ms. Mooney’s death, if any, is uncertain.”

While the motive for the crime is yet to be disclosed by authorities, the New York Post reported the suspect was convicted of several felonies in Minnesota and Illinois, including assaults, sexual assaults, and gun charges.

Shortly after her death, her sister, Guyanese singer Jourdin Pauline, in an Instagram post said:

"Never in a million years did I think I'd have to make this post and get justice for my one & only sister, my heart is crushed. This hurts so bad. I can't believe my big baby sister is gone. The reason I'm me is because of you!!! My first best friend, the one who taught me everything I know!!!!!"

In old interviews, Pauline revealed her family, including Maleesa Mooney, were originally from Guyana but grew up in South Los Angeles' Hyde Park neighborhood after moving to the city at the age of 6.