As the investigation into the death of Jenae Gagnier, better known as Miss Mercedes Morr, continues, the late Instagram model’s parents have spoken out about their loss. The 33-year-old was found dead in her Richmond, Texas apartment over the weekend, along with the man who killed her.
“She’s a person, that was our baby,” Gagnier’s mother, Jeaneta told Eyewitness News. “She was so famous in her world, and so loved in ours.”
The model, who had just under three million followers on Instagram, was found strangled to death. Alongside Gagnier’s body, was a man later identified as 34-year-old Kevin Alexander Accorto. Authorities do not currently believe that the two had any sort of relationship, but Gagnier’s sister, London, alleged in an Instagram post that Accorto had been stalking Jenae.
“N*ggas don’t know shit. She wasn’t robbed. It was just a stalker from outta state who’d BEEN stalking her. Don’t play on my baby’s name EVER,” she wrote.
It was Gagnier’s father, Mark, who discovered her body on Sunday evening after the family hadn’t heard from her all weekend. “I know my daughter and when I got to my daughter’s house and it was locked up and she’s not answering my phone call, which is not like her, I knew something was up,” he recounted to Eyewitness News.
“I didn’t hesitate to kick the door down. What I saw, I wouldn’t want any parent to go through.” Mark discovered Jenae’s lifeless body at the bottom of the staircase, initially thinking her death may have been an accident.
Upon arriving upstairs, Gagnier discovered Accorto’s body with a knife in his neck; investigators say that the 34-year-old stubbed himself after strangling the Instagram model.
“He was twitching, he was gurgling,” recalled the star’s father. “I could look in the room and there’s writings all over the wall.” The notes, written in lipstick and pen, contained chilling confessions, apologies, and professions of love for Jenae.
“I don’t know how he found her and I don’t know how all this happened,” Mark continued. He also added that he and his daughter regularly discussed the potential of her internet fame warranting some obsessed fans. “It scared the hell out of me,” he said.
ABC 13 reports that Gagnier’s cause of death has been ruled homicide; the autopsy shows evidence of strangulation and a traumatic concussion. Richmond investigators are still working to find out how Accorto could’ve gotten into his victim’s apartment.
The heartbreaking loss of Miss Mercedes Morr has also prompted some celebrity attention – check out what Cardi B had to say to haters justifying Accorto’s actions.
[Via]