Celebrity Influencer Who ‘Feared For Her Life’ Found Dead

Category: Crime News 

 

A makeup influencer with more than one million followers who reportedly “sometimes feared for her life” has been found dead with a gunshot to her head.

Maja Janeska, a celebrity makeup artist, aged 39, was discovered in mysterious circumstances at her upmarket home in Bassonia Estate, in Johannesburg, South Africa on December 2.

She reportedly lived at the address with her partner, Kyle Phillips, co-director of the tobacco company Carnilinx.

Police said that Ms Janeska was found in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to her head.

Following the makeup artist’s death, a family member told local media that Maja sometimes worried about being murdered.

The relative, who wished to remain nameless, said: “We are heartbroken, and we seriously don’t know what to do. We are in Europe and our hands are tied because we can’t come to South Africa because of visa issues.

“Maja is lying there in some mortuary, and we don’t have any clue as to what is actually happening.”

The family member said they were informed of her death by one of Mr Phillips’ former associates who said suicide was currently the suspected cause.

Police spokesperson Mavela Masondo said: “Upon arrival at the address given, police found a woman in the bedroom with a gunshot wound on the head. There was a firearm next to her. The woman was certified dead by the paramedics.”

The Macedonian influencer had 1.2 million Instagram followers at the time of her death.

The investigation into her death is ongoing.