The sister of a South American pop star was murdered inside the luxury Los Angeles apartment she had been living in for just one month, cops said.
Maleesa Mooney, 31, was found dead inside her Skye at Bunker Hill unit in Downtown Los Angeles just before 4 p.m. Tuesday after the cops were called to conduct a wellness check, the LAPD said in a statement Friday.
Investigators ruled she was a victim of a homicide, though her exact cause of death is still pending.
Mooney is the younger sister of Jourdin Pauline, a “trap-pop” singer originally from Guayana.
“My heart is crushed I can’t believe you won’t be here with us anymore. you were so loving and so kind to everyone … this is so sick I can’t believe my baby big sister is gone!!!!!” Pauline lamented on Instagram.
“How is this even possible you won’t be here we was supposed to grow old together and have babies and cook off wars (you’re the best chef ever). this feels so surreal I keep waking up crying thinking I’m in a bad dream. we will get justice for you my sister. I promise you won’t be gone in vain!!!
Police could not say how long Mooney had been dead before she was discovered, but her family said they became concerned at the end of last week when they couldn’t get in touch with her.
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They called for LA police to conduct a wellness check after their iPhone text conversations with Mooney changed from blue to green, indicating they weren’t being sent through her normal data service, and raised suspicions.
Mooney was already dead, but her iCloud had an alert that indicated someone was using her technology, indicating to her loved ones that her murderer was trying to pawn off her iPhone and MacBook, they told ABC 7.
Mooney was an aspiring model who worked as a real estate agent at Beverly Hills-based agency Nest Seekers, though her profile was recently taken down.
She had only moved into the roughly 450-unit luxury apartment building last month.
Other residents told ABC 7 that the high-rise has seen a “rash of suspicious incidents” in and around the building in recent weeks.
The downtown area has seen a series of stabbings, including a man who was fatally stabbed Thursday on a Metro train platform at Pershing Square, located just half a mile from Mooney’s home.
