This archive report was first published on 17 July 2021.
July 17, 2021, marked a significant day in the fight against child abuse as police in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County, arrested a suspect accused of defiling and murdering five girls between 2019 and 2021.
According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Evans Juma Wanjala confessed to committing the heinous crimes.
Wanjala allegedly lured his victims, aged between 10 and 15, from different locations within Moi's Bridge in Uasin-Gishu County and took them to secluded areas where he defiled and strangled them.
The DCI identified the victims as Linda Cherono, 13, Mary Elusa, 14, Grace Njeri, 12, Stacy Nabiso, 10, and Lucy Wanjiru, 15.
Wanjala reenacted how he executed the crimes, leading detectives to the scene of every murder where charred remains of the murdered minors had earlier been recovered.
One of the victims, Linda Cherono, went missing early June 2021 and was found dead near Baharini Dam on June 15, 2021, resulting in protests on the Eldoret-Kitale Highway.
Wanjala was wanted for other crimes, and an arrest warrant against him had been issued in 2019. He was out on bond after being accused of defiling two girls in Kibwezi in 2018.
Wanjala was traced to Eldoret West, where he was arrested, and will be arraigned on Monday, July 19.
