Fear among influencers after the murder of an Instagram model

After the murder of Instagram model “Mercedes Morr” by an obsessive fan, fear for their own safety is spreading among other influencers. Various false reports are being made about the model's death.

Murdered by a fan in her own house: Jenae Gagnier, Mercedes Morr's real name, was murdered by a fanatical fan in her own house at the end of August. On Instagram, the model mostly appeared to her 2.2 million followers as a “party girl” and regularly took part in events with other celebrities. As “Rolling Stone” reports, other influencers are now also concerned about their own safety after this act.

First a dancer, then an influencer

Gagnier had temporarily earned her money as a dancer in a strip club and had already started her activities on social media at that time. As her popularity on social media increased, she became increasingly financially independent through advertising collaborations with various companies and fashion labels, as well as modeling jobs, an Onlyfans account and other appearances, so that she finally decided to become a full-time influencer.

Commitment and career plans

According to her sister, London Gagnier, she was a welcome guest among celebrities because she treated well-known people the same as anyone else. Gagnier was also committed to black entrepreneurs in Huston. She had planned to soon release hair extensions and her own leggings collection under her own brand.

Messages from the murderer

After her sister hadn't heard from her for a few days and the influencer, unusually, hadn't posted a story on Instagram during this time, London Gagnier contacted her father. He made his way to Jenaer Gagnier's house, where he finally found her lifeless and only half-clothed. Her alleged murderer, Kevin A., was in the bedroom on the upper floor with a knife in his chest, which he had probably driven in himself. After the influencer's murder and before his own death, he apparently spent two days in the house and sent messages like "Janae made me think she was interested in me, but she was wearing another man's ring," "I wish I had never met her” and “I was used for money” written on the walls in lipstick.

Security measures were already necessary beforehand

Neither the police nor the family are aware of any personal connection between the Instagram model and Kevin A. The question of how he was able to get to her address is still unclear.

Before her murder, Janae Gagnier had already had experiences with fanatical fans, which is why she had already moved once after her address was published on the Internet. Since then, on the advice of her manager, she has stopped posting photos from her own house and only shared photos that showed her whereabouts when she was no longer there.

False reports of death

After her death became known, numerous claims about it spread online. There were false reports that Janae Gagnier had died of HIV or that she worked as an escort and was killed by a customer. In so-called “men’s rights” groups but also in the comments under her Instagram posts, she is sometimes accused of being to blame for her murder due to her revealing appearance. Gagnier's mother, Janetta Grover, is stunned by these comments: “It's not fair that women aren't allowed to be beautiful [...] Men can live their lives without being hunted. It’s sad that women don’t have this right.”

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Source: Murder of an Instagram model causes fear among influencers – network politics – derStandard.at › Web

Article image: Instagram/missmercedesmorr