The High Court sentenced a woman to life imprisonment for strangling her four children in Naivasha two years ago.
Beatrice Mwende, who strangled the children and slept next to their lifeless bodies, was convicted after pleading guilty to four counts of murder.
Mwende was accused of murdering the children by strangulation at Kabati estate, Naivasha, on the night of June 26 and 27, 2020.
The minors were identified as Melody Warigia (8yrs), Willy Macharia (6yrs), Samantha Njeri (4yrs) and Whitney Nyambura (2yrs).
Mwende informed the court last year that she had entered a guilty plea for the four offences following extensive consultation with her lawyer.
Upon sentencing her, High Court Judge Grace Nzioka remarked that there was no evidence to establish that the accused was mentally ill at the time of the crime.
According to the medical evidence presented in court, the former teacher was of sound mind when she killed the four children.
Nzioka denied the accused’s claim that she was possessed by spirits at the time of the crime.
“The accused’s excuse that she was possessed by some evil spirits when she committed the act cannot be validated in court, and she is sentenced to life in jail,” the court said.
The judge sentenced her to life in prison for each of the four offences in a virtual judgement, although she highlighted that she will only serve the first count.
Previously, prosecutor Nelly Maingi told the court how the accused began by strangling the youngest daughter before repeating the process with the other three.
She would later sleep in the same house until the next morning when she left to notify her family that she had committed a heinous act and begged their forgiveness.
According to the prosecution, the accused was apprehended hours later in a lodging in Naivasha’s Kayole estate before being arraigned and charged in court.
