- Mercy Jerono Kwambai, 18, was found dead at a hostel’s toilet in the varsity’s Athi River campus, Machakos County on September 8, 2023. This was four days after the Nursing student was admitted to the institution.
- A detective said a postmortem conducted on the body by a government pathologist revealed that Kwambai succumbed to a single knife stab. She had a stab wound on her chest.
Image: THE STAR
Police in Machakos are investigating whether Daystar University’s death was caused by suicide or murder.
A senior police boss privy to the investigations divulged to the Star that detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had narrowed down their investigations to two possible theories.
Mercy Jerono Kwambai, 18, was found dead at a hostel’s toilet in the varsity’s Athi River campus, Machakos County on September 8, 2023. This was four days after the Nursing student was admitted to the institution.
A detective said a postmortem conducted on the body by a government pathologist revealed that Kwambai succumbed to a single knife stab. She had a stab wound on her chest.
He divulged that a weapon that killed the student was recovered from the scene and was safely kept in police custody as investigations got into top gear.
Preliminary investigations police said had pointed to a possible suicide, a theory that the detectives have said were probing noting that they couldn’t rule out a murder theory.
“So far, we can’t rule out either of the two theories, it could be either suicide or murder. But, according to preliminary investigations and the state of the scene of the crime, it highly points out possible suicide,” the source stated.
He said the girl was found dead inside the toilet with the door closed from inside. A possible indication that she might have ended her own life since it wasn’t possible to kill her, and then lock the door from the inside.
The incident according to a police source might have happened when other students were attending a welcome dinner party organized for the first-year students by the university’s management within the institution’s compound.
The suicide theory has been dismissed by some parties who claimed the student could have been murdered.
“We can’t speculate on the incident since it’s under serious investigations. Let’s give the detectives time so that they conclude the probe. We will issue a comprehensive statement on the same once the investigations are completed,” a senior police boss said.
The matter had earlier been reported to Athi River police station as a suicide incident report on September 9 at 3.15 am.
Police then said the incident was reported by the varsity’s security coordinator Patrick Darizu.
“He reported that there was a body of a female first-year student lying in a pool of blood at the Patience West hostel washroom at Daystar University," a police report seen by the Star reads in part.
"Police officers and DCI personnel visited the scene and it was established that the deceased Mercy Jerono Kwambai had locked herself inside the toilet and committed suicide by stabbing herself on the left side of the chest using a kitchen knife.”
The deceased’s body according to the police was discovered by her fellow students who gained entry by jumping over the walls of the toilets and opening the door.
The scene was processed and documented by the officers before it was removed to Shalom Community Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.
Police said several people had recorded statements on the same. They included fellow students and staffers.