This archive report was first published on 3 December 2019.
On December 3, 2019, a sense of gloom hung over the Mirera area in Naivasha town as the community mourned the death of 14-year-old Valerian Njeri.
Valerian, a bright student who had scored 346 marks in the KCPE and secured admission at the prestigious Mary Leakey Girls' School, was stabbed more than 20 times by a 17-year-old teenage boy after she turned down his request for intimacy.
The incident occurred less than 100 meters from her family's homestead, where mourners had gathered to condole with the family.
According to police investigators, the assailant used a book to bait the unsuspecting girl and lure her into the house.
Valerian's father, John Ndonu, described her as the family's beacon of hope, saying she was obedient, loved education, and wanted to become a doctor.
Her mother, Mary Goleti Chepleting, recalled that Valerian was a staunch Catholic who used to pray with her family.
The local Nyumba Kumi chairman, Daniel Gichanga, was still pained by the incident, saying the teenager arrested for the killing had shown no emotions when asked to get him a glass of drinking water.
