The High Court has sentenced 18-year-old Lizz Mwangi to 20 years’ imprisonment after she pleaded guilty to the murder of three-year-old Margaret Wanjiku Kirathe.
The crime was committed in the Mchanganyiko area of Kiamaina Location in Nakuru County in June 2025.
Lizz was convicted on July 29, 2025, after admitting to the offence of murder. According to court records, the three-year-old died after being strangled with a piece of cloth; a fact that the judge later described as demonstrating the gruesome nature of the killing.
The defence informed the court that Lizz was 18 years old and a Form Four student at Upper Hill Secondary School at the time of sentencing.
“She was remorseful and claimed she did not fully understand how she came to commit the act. The defence counsel further suggested that the offence may have been influenced by psychological disturbances, including nightmares and a strange compulsion to kill,” said the defence council.
They urged the court to impose a non-custodial sentence, preferably probation, to enable counselling and rehabilitation under the supervision of a probation officer.
The prosecution acknowledged that Lizz was a first offender who had pleaded guilty. However, the State strongly opposed a non-custodial sentence, arguing that the severity of the crime — the killing of a defenceless three-year-old child — demanded a custodial term to serve as a deterrent.
They maintained that public interest and the need to denounce such violence outweighed the mitigating factors advanced by the defence.
A pre-sentence report filed by the probation officer further undermined the defence’s proposal.
It indicated that the victim’s family remained deeply embittered by the incident, and that neither the offender’s family nor the wider community were prepared to accept her back. This rendered probation unsuitable.
“While acknowledging Mwangi’s youth and lack of prior criminal history, the judge emphasised the brutality of the offence, the vulnerability of the victim and public safety concerns,” read part of the court documents.
The court also noted that it had not been demonstrated that Mwangi was free from the disturbing influences said to have led to the killing.
After balancing the interests of justice, the court concluded that a custodial sentence was unavoidable.
