A fitness model has been arrested after his personal trainer husband was found dead on the toilet with multiple stab wounds at their New York City apartment, according to a report.
Donald Zieben-Hood, 40, called 911 Friday after finding his husband dead on the toilet inside their Harlem home. Soon after, he was arrested for violating an order of protection that kept him from having contact with his husband, police sources told the New York Daily News.
Police found Jacob Zieben-Hood, 34, “slumped over on the floor covered in blood with gashes from his head and multiple stab wounds to the back of his leg, including a stabbing on the back of his calf that penetrated his muscle,” prosecutors said during Donald Zieben-Hood’s arraignment Sunday night.
One of the wounds severed an artery, and Jacob Zieben-Hood bled to death, authorities said.
The personal trainer’s death is being investigated as a homicide. His husband has been charged with first-degree burglary, weapon possession and aggravated criminal contempt.
An autopsy is pending to determine if the personal trainer’s wounds were accidental, self-inflicted or a homicide, according to the report.
The Independent has contacted the New York Police Department for further information.
The couple, both models and fitness influencers, had been together since at least 2016, according to their Instagram profiles. However, the pair had been having issues for months, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Donald Zieben-Hood “demonstrated an escalating pattern of violence toward his husband in defiance of multiple public court orders, culminating in his husband’s death.”
On the night of his death, Jacob Zieben-Hood told his dad that his husband was “coming after him,” and preventing him from leaving the apartment, prosecutors said.
“The victim’s father heard the defendant’s voice in the background screaming at the victim and calling him derogatory names,” prosecutors said.
Donald Zieben-Hood admitted to authorities when he called 911 that he had violated the order of protection.
“I had an order of protection placed against me. I’m getting arrested, right?” he asked the dispatcher, prosecutors said during his arraignment.
Donald Zieben-Hood was arrested earlier this year for two assaults against his husband – one incident on February 26 and one the following day. In one of the incidents, he was accused of choking his husband at least twice.
He was charged with assault, strangulation, harassment, criminal obstruction of breathing and contempt of court, but was released on $20,000 bail.
There was also an incident on June 14 when Donald Zieben-Hood allegedly confronted his husband outside their home with a knife and said “I will attack you,” according to a criminal complaint.
He was charged with menacing and contempt of court, and released on $5,000 bail. He is due back in court on August 28 for those charges, according to the report.
In addition to those cases, prosecutors said there had been nine domestic incident reports since March 2024, where Donald Zieben-Hood was not arrested.
It was not immediately clear whether Donald Zieben-Hood had resumed living with his husband despite the protection order against him.
Neighbors said the pair would fight frequently, and were in a dispute just hours before Jacob Zieben-Hood was found dead.
“They’ve been arguing for months, and I’ve been complaining,” a neighbor named Craig told the Daily News. “I know couples fight, but this was abnormal. They were very loud. Slamming doors all the time.”
“I knew something tragic would happen,” he added. “It’s unfortunate.”
