Ashlee Jenae’s fiancé Joe McCann says he’s starting a non-profit foundation in her honor after she died by suicide in Tanzania at age 31 on April 9.
The Miami-based lifestyle influencer was found hanging from a doorknob inside a villa in Zanzibar, Tanzania. She was in Zanzibar to celebrate her engagement to McCann, a crypto businessman. They also celebrated her 31st birthday at a wildlife safari.
“Her death will not be in vain, and her legacy will be preserved,” McCann told TMZ. He said the non-profit will be dedicated to preserving Jenae’s “legacy.”
Mystery surrounded Jenae’s death on the island of Zanzibar. Jenae’s family believed that McCann knew more about her death. Jenae’s parents vowed to travel to Zanzibar and speak with investigators following her funeral.
McCann skipped her funeral in New Jersey on May 5. But he remembered Jenae as his “best friend, confidante and fiancé [sic]” in a post on X.com the same day as the funeral.
Supporters donated nearly $65,000 to the family, surpassing the goal of $50,000.
On April 7, Zuri Zanzibar hotel staff heard a loud argument coming from their room. Hotel security separated them in different villas. Jenae was found hanging from a doorknob in her villa on April 8. She died in a hospital the next day.
About 11 hours later, McCann called Jenae’s parents in New Jersey to say she harmed herself. The family said they never heard from him again.
Jenae’s parents rejected the idea that Ashlee committed suicide. They said she would never harm herself. However, a coroner’s report confirmed Jenae (born Ashly Jenae Robinson) died by asphyxiation. Her cause of death was suicide related to mental distress.
According to local outlet The Citizen, authorities said Jenae asked ChatGPT a suicide-related question several weeks before she died. Ashlee had asked ChatGPT how much of a prescription drug could “kill me”.
“When the official findings were announced, I felt a deep sense of renewed pain, but also purpose,” McCann told TMZ.
“Ashly’s story needs to be told so we can honor and cherish what she brought to this world,” he said. “Her death will not be in vain, and her legacy will be preserved.”
McCann told TMZ he wished he could have helped relieve Jenae’s “deep mental anguish.”
“I wish I could have brought her over from the darkness into the light,” he added.