Detectives in Meru County have arrested a prime suspect in the murder of 65-year-old Evelyne Mukiri Mbaabu, who was fatally attacked at her home in Kithoka, Imenti East, on August 7.
In a statement on Monday, the DCI said suspect Solomon Kathurima Kairemia was arrested on September 21 following weeks of forensic analysis and intelligence-led investigations by detectives from the CCIO’s Office and DCI Imenti North.
Police said Mbaabu was preparing supper with her 13-year-old grandson when an unknown man entered the compound and went to the kitchen, where he asked for drinking water.
Moments later, the boy heard his grandmother scream for help.
He rushed to the kitchen and found her “lying in a pool of blood”, before the attacker turned on him and struck him on the hand with a panga before fleeing.
Mbaabu was rushed to Grace Park Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Kairemia abandoned his house after the killing and began spending nights hiding in nearby thickets, just a few metres from his residence.
Detectives eventually traced him and arrested him on September 21.
During the arrest, officers recovered a blood-stained panga believed to have been used in the fatal attack.
“The weapon was secured as an exhibit for further forensic examination,” the DCI said.
A police identification parade was later conducted, during which Kairemia was positively identified as the man behind the attack, according to investigators.
The suspect was subsequently presented before the Meru Law Courts, where detectives obtained a 14-day custodial order to allow them to complete their investigations.
The DCI said investigations would continue to establish the motive and circumstances surrounding Mbaabu’s murder.