This archive report was first published on 7 May 2020.
On September 11, 2011, a tragic event unfolded in Gachuiro village, Mathira West District, Nyeri County. Charles Ngunjiri Njeri, a high school student at the time, slit his mother Gladys Njeri's throat, leaving her lifeless in her sitting room.
According to court documents, the relationship between Ngunjiri and his mother had been strained for months prior to the incident. In June 2011, Ngunjiri moved out of his mother's home and rented a house at Ihwagi shopping centre, citing that his mother did not take care of him.
However, the two reconciled briefly, but their relationship continued to deteriorate. On the fateful night, Ngunjiri returned home after losing money meant for school fees, which his mother had given him. A heated argument ensued, and Njeri asked her son to leave. Ngunjiri did leave but returned to his mother's place around 7:30 pm.
When Njeri came home and found her son, she started shouting at him, wishing death upon him. Ngunjiri became enraged and started hitting her. The deceased picked a knife to defend herself, but Ngunjiri overpowered her, snatched the knife, and slit her throat.
Ngunjiri fled the crime scene, but was later arrested and charged with murder. He denied the charges, claiming that he had no intention of killing his mother and that the incident was caused by anger. However, the court found him guilty of murder, ruling that he had no reason to slit his mother's throat since he had already overpowered her and taken the knife from her.
