Maya Janeska, an online beauty influencer with more than 1.2 million Instagram followers, has been found dead under what local media and family members are calling “mysterious circumstances.”
According to police investigators, Janeska, 39, was shot in the head on December 2 at the luxurious Bassonia Estate in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Police spokesperson Lt. Col. Mawela Masondo said in a statement: “Upon arrival at the address, police found a woman in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head.
“He had a firearm with him. Emergency personnel determined that the woman was dead.
The celebrity makeup artist and internet content creator known among her followers as “Maya Mia” is said to have dated and lived with “tobacco tycoon” Kyle Phillips, co-director of Johannesburg-based tobacco company Carnilinx.
Phillips, who was “in shock and traumatized by this tragedy,” told authorities that she was brushing her teeth in the bathroom when she heard gunshots coming from their bedroom.
Asked who owned the firearm, Lt Col Masondo added: “Police cannot comment on this at this time as it may jeopardize the investigation.”
However, police have confirmed they have launched an investigation into the influencer’s death, adding that the brunette stunner’s death is “not being treated as suspicious at this time”.
Meanwhile, Phillips told local media that he was hiring his own pathologist to perform the autopsy.
A “heartbroken” family member told South African media outlet News24 that Janeska sometimes “feared for her life” and was afraid of being killed.
“Our phones haven’t stopped ringing — it’s all news to us,” said the relative, who asked to remain anonymous for his safety. “We are in Europe and our hands are tied because we cannot come to South Africa due to visa issues. [Janeska] he’s in the morgue and we have no idea what’s going on.”
A family member said she was informed of her death by one of Phillips’ former partners, who now say the cause is suspected to be suicide.
“He sometimes fears for his life. Her boyfriend had men working for her and she was afraid of them too,” a relative told News24, speaking on condition of anonymity. Phillips “surrounded herself with security guards” and refused to be examined by state pathologists at the scene. “We are heartbroken and don’t know what to do.”
Julius Malema, leader of South Africa’s Economic Freedom Fighters political party and a “close friend” of Janeska’s tobacco tycoon boyfriend, attended a press conference on Janeska’s death.
“I didn’t speak to Kyle, but I knew him well,” Malema told local media. “We became friends. She is a very lovely lady, looking forward to the future and she has very good plans for the continent and the country and appreciates our leadership.”
Nine days before her death, Janeska told university students during a guest lecture that she moved to Tanzania at the age of 19 to work in a hotel, Jam Press reported. During this time, she became “fluent in Swahili” and began a career as a makeup artist and stylist.
In her last Instagram post on November 22, Janeska was pictured with North Macedonia’s Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani. According to him, the meeting was aimed at “establishing diplomatic relations between my country, the Republic of North Macedonia, and my second home, the Republic of South Africa.”
Meanwhile, Malema appeared to question Janeska’s suicide in his press briefing.
“He never seemed to me to be suicidal. “He spoke his mind without fear and they loved each other,” she said. “There was nothing to indicate that there were any intractable problems that would justify suicide. I don’t think there was such a sign. It was amazing.”
