The owner of a model and talent agency in Salt Lake City, Utah, is opening up about her close encounter with murder suspect Ayoola Ajayi.
Ajayi faces charges of aggravated murder, kidnapping and desecration of a body in the death of Utah college student Mackenzie Lueck, who was last seen on June 17 and whose charred remains were found in Ajayi's backyard, according to police.
Evie Keener said Ajayi, an avid bodybuilder and wannabe model, first approached her at a networking event for models and their agents last summer. She said he wanted to sign with her agency, but there was something about him that she found off-putting.
"On the surface, he seemed perfect," Keener told Inside Edition. "He seemed very smart. Very good looking. Very well-spoken."
After going to several networking parties, Ajayi began reaching out to Keener on social media, she said.
"I did not feel comfortable having him in the same room with my young models, so I just listened to my gut and I didn't have anything further to do with him," she said.
"He made me feel uncomfortable in my core," she added.
Keener became emotional as she discussed what might have happened to Lueck.
"It's horrifying to think," she said, trailing off in tears.
Ajayi also told Keener he was looking for a literary agent to represent his novel, which he later self-published on Amazon in 2018. A description for the book, "Forge Identity," which has since been removed from Amazon, stated that it's about a teen who "witnessed a gruesome murder" of a neighbor burned alive.
Police said neighbors reported seeing Ajayi burning something in his backyard with gasoline on June 17 and 18, police said. In a search of the backyard, investigators say they found charred human female tissue matching Lueck's DNA.
Ajayi has not yet entered a plea to the charges against him.
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