By Andrew Kariuki

The High Court in Kiambu has sentenced 24-year-old Wyclife Tinega Omiti, also known as William Omiti and Wilfred Omiti, to 15 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the offence of manslaughter following a plea bargain agreement.

According to the judgment delivered by Justice A. Mshila, the accused had initially been charged with murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code before the charge was later reduced to manslaughter through a plea bargain agreement adopted by the court.

Court documents indicated that Omiti unlawfully killed Daniel Njuguna Mungai on the night of March 6 and 7, 2023, in the Munyu area of Gatuanyaga Ward, Thika East Sub-County within Kiambu County.

The court heard that the deceased had been employed at his father’s quarry and failed to report to work on March 7, 2023, prompting concern from family members and colleagues who later reported him missing at Thika Police Station.

Neighbours later detected a foul smell coming from the deceased’s house and alerted police officers who broke into the residence alongside family members, where they discovered his decomposing body with knife wounds on the neck. The house had also reportedly been ransacked and several items stolen, including the deceased’s mobile phone.

A postmortem conducted by Dr. Mathiaya established that the cause of death was multiple injuries caused by sharp force trauma and multiple stab wounds.

Investigators later arrested the accused in Nyamira on April 17, 2023, while allegedly using the deceased’s mobile phone.

During mitigation, the defence told the court that the accused was remorseful, had accepted responsibility by pleading guilty and had undertaken religious studies while in remand. The defence also urged the court to treat him as a first offender.

However, the victim impact assessment report revealed that the deceased’s family remained deeply traumatised and opposed a non-custodial sentence.

In sentencing, Justice Mshila noted that a young life had been lost and ruled that the accused deserved a custodial sentence to allow him time for reflection and counselling.

The court consequently sentenced Omiti to 15 years imprisonment and directed that the period spent in remand since April 18, 2023, be deducted from the sentence under Section 333(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code.