The High Court in Eldoret has asked for a probation officer’s report in a manslaughter case where a woman was found guilty of killing her 11-year-old son.
Justice Stephen Githinji directed that the report should be presented in court before sentencing Janepher Khayiecha, 45 for the alleged crime.
Khayiecha who appeared before Justice Githinji shocked the court when she admitted, and justified the murder of her son, a standard five pupil.
The accused, who looked composed in the dock, pleaded guilty to the offence of manslaughter after entering into a plea bargain agreement with the prosecution.
Killed at home
The charge sheet, which was read to Khayiecha, stated that she murdered her son, Kefa Kona Khayiecha on March 23, 2017, at their home in Chepsaita village, Eldoret West, Uasin Gishu County.
While reading out the facts of the case, the prosecution stated that Kona’s death was not intentional.
According to the prosecution, Khayiecha had confronted her son, for failing to sleep at home and consequently failing to attend school on the morning of March 23, 2017.
The court further heard that when Kona appeared home, his mother had tried disciplining him but he in turn attacked his mother by boxing and beating her up.
Picked a piece of wood
Enraged by her son’s action, the court heard, Khayiecha picked a piece of wood which she used to hit her son.
She then tried to get him to drink porridge and go to school, but he had sustained serious injuries that he could not move.
When her husband arrived home, he found his son lying in bed and when he tried to wake him up in vain.
The court was told that when Khayiecha saw that her son was dead, she ran away, but was arrested by the area chief and taken to Turbo police station before being arraigned in court.
Her son’s body was then taken to Kimbilio mortuary along the Webuye-Eldoret highway and a postmortem that was conducted on his body revealed that he had succumbed to severe head and chest injuries.
The postmortem report also showed that the deceased had suffered spinal injury.
During the mitigation, Khayiecha through her lawyer told the court that she was a mother of four other young children under her care, and that she had sought reconciliation with her family over the unintended death of her son.
Praying for leniency
“The accused is also a first offender and the medical reports show that she is epileptic and suffers from poor judgment. My client is also remorseful and has been in remand for some time before she was awarded bond. We are praying for leniency and that the court grants her a non-custodial sentence of three years,” argued Khayiecha’s lawyer.
While ordering for a probation report before sentencing Khayiecha, Justice Githinji said that the court would consider a non-custodial sentence for the accused.
“Having heard the facts of the case which tilts more on manslaughter than murder, I find the case as a discipline that went the wrong way and was prompted by the deceased’s intention to attack his own mother. I find as proposed by the defense that this is a good case for consideration of a non-custodial sentence,” ruled Judge Githinji.
The case will come for mention on July 17.