Model with 2.3 million Instagram fans dies in possible murder-suicide, Texas cops say
UPDATE: Police in Richmond, Texas identified the man found dead with Janae Gagnier as 34-year-old Kevin Alexander Accorto, according to KTRK.
The Fort Bend County Medical Examiner told ABC13 that Gagnier was “strangled and suffered a traumatic concussion,” and that her death has been ruled a homicide. Her body was discovered by Richmond police and her father after her family requested a welfare check on Sunday.
Accorto’s death was ruled a suicide by “multiple sharp force trauma,” the medical examiner said to ABC13.
ORIGINAL STORY: A popular social media model was discovered dead in her Richmond apartment in an apparent murder-suicide, Texas authorities said.
According to multiple media outlets, including Click2Houston, the body of 33-year-old Janae Gagnier, known as “Miss Mercedes Morr” on Instagram, was found Sunday afternoon at her home in Richmond, a Houston suburb.
Richmond police told McClatchy News that an unidentified man was also found dead in the home and he is considered a suspect in Gagnier’s death. Police said it does not appear that the two had a relationship.
Gagnier was a Houston native who has over 2.6 million followers on Instagram, including rappers Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez, who confirmed her death in an Instagram story on Monday, the U.S. Sun said.
“Rest in peace Queen,” Lanez wrote in a caption along with a photo of Gagnier in an Instagram story.
Fans flocked to Gagnier’s Instagram page and left condolences under photographs of the model.
“Always a sweetheart,” @djmrrogers said. “The city will truly miss you.”
“Mercedez I’m so sorry,” @queenjustbrittnay wrote. “You did not deserve this at all. You had your whole life ahead of you. I remember all our times we had and you have always been the sweetest woman in the world.”
“This one hurts,” @tiarayvonne said.
“RIP may your family be covered in your warmth whenever they think of you,” @only1jshea said.
The official cause of death of Gagnier and the man are pending, KTRK said.
This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Model with 2.3 million Instagram fans dies in possible murder-suicide, Texas cops say."