Joe McCann – Influencer Ashlee Jenae, whose real name is Ashly Robinson, died on April 10 in Zanzibar while on a trip celebrating her 31st birthday. After an investigation that initially left her family with questions, Tanzanian authorities concluded her death was suicide
Ashlee Jenae’s 31st birthday trip in Zanzibar ended in a death that left her loved ones searching for answers—then waiting for the investigation to finish.
The influencer, whose real name is Ashly Robinson, died on April 10 while on a trip in Zanzibar, Africa. The same vacation also marked the moment she got engaged to her boyfriend, Joe McCann. But the early promise of that engagement quickly collapsed into tragedy.
Police described an escalation before the fatal outcome. The North Unguja Regional Police Commander. Benedict Mapujira. said the couple got into an argument at Zuri Zanzibar. and hotel staff separated them into different rooms before contacting police out of concern for Ashlee. Her family. however. said she “was found unconscious in her villa” and was taken to the local hospital. where she died hours later.
Authorities launched an investigation into her “suspicious” death. While they believed Ashlee died by suicide. her family continued to have unanswered questions—especially one: they said Joe cut off ALL communication with them after her death. Police questioned the fiancé and even withheld his travel documentation during their investigation. Now, the outcome has shifted.
With the investigation concluded, Tanzanian authorities say the cause of death was suicide connected to mental distress. The Tanzania Police Force added specific details about the day. A hotel employee entered Ashlee’s villa during a routine evening check after getting no response at the door. Inside, the worker found Ashlee hanging inside a wardrobe. Investigators said she was suspended from the closet’s clothing rail using the hotel’s robe belt.
Documents from April listed her immediate cause of death as cerebral hypoxia caused by strangulation and suffocation.
The sequence ends the questions that hung over the case for Ashlee’s family. It also clears Joe of wrongdoing—something he and his legal team say matters as they move through grief.
Joe McCann issued a statement to TMZ on Thursday, using an old Swahili proverb: “The heart is like a forest. One cannot see into it.” He said the “official announcement from Tanzanian authorities” that his soulmate, Ashly Robinson, died by suicide “does not lessen the tragedy of her death.”
In his remarks. Joe said: “I miss Ashly every moment of every day and the pain of being without her will never go away. A sudden loss of this magnitude is not something I can simply get over.” He added that his priorities had been “getting Ashly home and cooperating with the authorities to ensure that the truth would be revealed. ” and he thanked the Tanzania Police Force for what he called their professional. sensitive. and thorough investigation.
His lawyer. Edward Andrew Paltzik. also spoke to TMZ. saying the Tanzania Police Force’s announcement marks the end of the investigation and exonerates Joe. Paltzik described the authorities’ findings as making Joe “without a doubt now ‘an innocent’ man. ” and he said: “Today. the Tanzania Police Force officially announced that the tragic death of Ashly Robinson was ‘beyond any doubt’ by suicide. This exonerating announcement marks the end of an exhaustive. professional. and unbiased investigation carried out for the sole purpose of revealing the truth. Beyond any doubt, the truth now revealed to the world is this: Joe McCann is a completely innocent man.”.
At this time, her loved ones haven’t reacted to her cause of death.
Ashlee Jenae’s name may have traveled the internet as a social media presence. but the facts coming from Zanzibar now belong to the record: a birthday trip. a quarrel described by police. a discovery inside a wardrobe. and an official conclusion released after an investigation described as exhaustive. For Joe and Ashlee’s family, the next part is still the hardest—living with what happened.
If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, help is available. Consider contacting the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, by calling, texting, or chatting, or go to 988lifeline.org.
Ashlee Jenae Ashly Robinson Joe McCann Zanzibar Tanzania Police Force suicide death investigation engagement social media influencer
They just say suicide but like… how do you hang yourself in a wardrobe at a hotel and everyone moves on?
So he got cleared, but the article said he cut off communication with her family after she died? That alone sounds shady to me.
Wait, was this the influencer who was engaged there? I read somewhere it was murder but now it’s “suicide connected to mental distress.” Those hotel details are wild though, a robe belt??
Cleared doesn’t mean innocent, it means they didn’t prove what the family wanted. Also people arguing then being separated into different rooms… idk, that’s always the part that makes me side-eye. If she was found in a wardrobe, wouldn’t hotel security cameras show something? Like surely cameras, right?