This archive report was first published on 10 August 2019.
On July 18, a tragic incident unfolded in Eshiaka village, Mumias East sub-county, when a 17-year-old boy, along with two others, allegedly attacked and killed Newton Omenda in a brutal assault.
According to court documents, the three men, including the minor, accosted Omenda with a girl on a motorcycle. The girl's boyfriend, Mohammed Were, who had befriended her before they separated, allegedly stopped the motorcycle, blindfolded Omenda, and then jointly with his friends, assaulted him with machetes, clubs, and metallic bars.
The girl's attempts to rescue Omenda were futile, and she was also attacked, forcing her to flee. She later reported the matter to her family, who rushed to the scene and found Omenda in a pool of blood, his right ear completely chopped off.
Omenda was taken to St Irene Hospital for first aid before being referred to St Mary's Mission Hospital in Mumias, where he succumbed to his injuries on July 20. A postmortem revealed that the cause of death was severe head injury secondary to blunt force trauma following assault.
The three suspects have been in police custody since July 22, after investigators were granted more time to conclude their probe. They were arrested after police recovered a machete and a sword believed to have been the murder weapons.
When they appeared before High Court judge Jesse Njagi, the three denied murder charges and were granted Sh500,000 bond with a surety of similar amount each. Their case will be heard on November 7.
