Nearly eight years after Sharon Belyne Otieno's killing shocked the country, the High Court on Thursday found former Migori Governor Zacharia Okoth Obado and his former personal assistant Michael Juma Oyamo guilty of her murder, bringing one of Kenya's longest-running and most closely watched criminal trials to a close. But beyond the judgment is the story of a young mother whose determination to complete her university education and secure a better future for her children was cut short.
Sharon was a second-year student at Rongo University who had returned to school with the hope of improving her life through education. She was also raising three children while balancing the demands of family, studies and the responsibility of helping those closest to her.
Born to Douglas Otieno and Melida Auma, Sharon was the first-born in her family. After her death, the responsibility of raising the three children she left behind fell to her parents, who stepped in to ensure they continued to receive the care their daughter had worked hard to provide.
When the criminal trial opened in July 2021, prosecutors described Sharon as "a daughter, mother, elder sister, student and family provider," capturing the many roles she carried while pursuing her education. Her mother later told the High Court that the family had encouraged Sharon to return to university because they wanted her "to complete her studies and build a better future for herself and her children."
At the time of her death, Sharon was 28 weeks pregnant.
Court proceedings heard that on September 3, 2018, Sharon left Graca Hotel in Rongo accompanied by journalist Barrack Oduor. While travelling, the pair were abducted after their vehicle was intercepted. Oduor escaped by jumping from the moving vehicle, but Sharon was driven away.
The following day, her body was found in a thicket near Kodera Forest in Homa Bay County, setting off a murder investigation that attracted national attention and remained under public focus for years.
Government pathologist Johansen Oduor later told the court that Sharon died from severe blood loss caused by penetrating force trauma. A post-mortem examination revealed seven stab wounds and two slash wounds on her body. The examination also found that her 28-week-old unborn child had suffered an abdominal injury.
Following investigations, prosecutors charged Obado, Oyamo and former Migori County clerk Casper Ojwang Obiero with the murder of Sharon and that of her unborn child. The three denied the charges throughout the trial.
The case went through several key stages before Thursday's verdict. Obado was released on cash bail, while Oyamo and Obiero were initially denied bail before the Court of Appeal later ordered their release.
In January 2025, Justice Cecilia Githua ruled that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the three accused and placed them on their defence, while making it clear that the ruling "was not a determination of guilt or innocence."
In the same decision, the judge dismissed the murder charge relating to Sharon's unborn child, finding that under Kenyan law the foetus did not meet the legal definition of a person capable of being murdered, although the evidence supported the separate offence of killing an unborn child.
Thursday's guilty verdict brings to an end the criminal proceedings that kept the country following every stage of the case. For Sharon's family, however, the judgment comes years after they lost a daughter whose hopes stretched beyond the lecture hall, as she worked towards completing her studies, raising her children and giving them a better future.