Pregnant model was found dead inside her refrigerator

Warning: The following story contains graphic content.

A pregnant model was found dead inside her refrigerator at her downtown L.A. apartment last month, her arms and legs bound, according to an autopsy report from the L.A. County Medical Examiner’s Department.

Maleesa Mooney, 31, was found dead Sept. 12 in her apartment in the 200 block of South Figueroa Street, authorities said. The medical examiner’s department ruled that she had died by “homicidal violence” inflicted by others. Her family confirmed that she was two months pregnant at the time of her death.

According to the autopsy report, Mooney was last seen on video surveillance at her apartment complex on Sept. 6. Six days later, her mother requested a welfare check, and police entered the apartment using a key from property management. Police have yet to announce suspects or a motive in the crime.

Police discovered Mooney’s body wedged inside the refrigerator with blood beneath her body; her wrists and ankles were bound and the bindings were tied behind her back with electrical cords and clothing. More clothing was found around her neck and face, and her mouth had been gagged, according to the report.

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Mooney had blunt-force trauma injuries to her head, neck and torso, as well as her arms, wrists and ankles, according to the report. Trace amounts of alcohol and cocaine were found in Mooney’s system, although the medical examiner wrote in the report that it’s “uncertain” if the substances played a part in her death due to her extensive injuries.

“Based on the circumstances of how Ms. Mooney was found, these injuries suggest she was likely involved in violent physical altercation prior to her death,” the examiner wrote.

In an interview with The Times, Jordan Pauline, 24, Mooney’s sister, said she last spoke with her sister on Aug. 23, her birthday. Mooney had recently come back from a trip to Miami and had just moved into a new apartment. She was planning to get the rest of her belongings from her mother’s house, and when her family didn’t hear from her, they got concerned and asked police to do a wellness check.

According to Pauline, police knocked on Mooney’s door and left a card when they didn’t get a response. Mooney’s family went to her apartment a few days later but were told by the building managers that they weren’t allowed in. They called the police, who discovered Mooney’s apartment flooded and the air conditioning blasting. Pauline said her family had to wait downstairs for hours until police told them they had found a body but couldn’t identify who it was.

“From her head to her toes, they did something monstrous to my sister,” said Pauline, a Los Angeles resident. “We had to have a closed casket — the mortuary had to bring in special people to put her together and do her makeup. We’re going to continue to have a closed casket because she has a big open gash in her head and half of her face, you can’t even make her out.

“We waited four days until they identified her from fingerprints,” Pauline said. “There’s a lot of negligence with the police as well. The whole point is to go in and check on the person and they didn’t.”

The Los Angeles Police Department didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mooney had FaceTimed their cousin on Sept. 6 and most likely died that day or the next, according to Pauline, who has been in contact with family members. Mooney had gone out with friends to a bar in Santa Monica on Sept. 6 and hung out with them at her apartment until 3 or 4 a.m. They never heard from her again.

Mooney’s phone and laptop had also been stolen, as well as a designer purse from her apartment, according to Pauline, who said that whoever killed her sister most likely knew her phone passcode and was sending her family “vague” texts. She didn’t elaborate on the text messages. They also found out that someone had put Mooney’s cellphone up for sale for $100.

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Pauline described her sister as a “bubbly, very soft-like, very girly girl.” Mooney worked as a Realtor for Nest Seekers, a Beverly Hills agency, for nearly two years. Mooney also modeled part time and was starting to take it more seriously before her death.

“Overall she was an amazing cook, a loving, nurturing, kind person,” Pauline said. “Really the life of the party and an all-around good person. It sucks that she was robbed of all of her potential in this life and she can’t even have her kids and husband that she’s always wanted. She always wanted to have a family and be a mother and this is heartbreaking, that this is the end result, especially in this manner.”

Mooney’s family has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for legal fees and to start a foundation in Mooney’s honor. Pauline said she’s hoping there will be justice for her sister and for 32-year-old Nichole Coats, another model who two days before was also found dead in her apartment a few blocks away from Mooney.

“Let’s find these people — whoever did it — so it doesn’t happen to another young girl,” Pauline said. “We’re all humans living our human experiences. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, for them to have to go through this pain.”