Exclusive: Daddy Owen speaks after his cousin’s fatal shooting by police officer
On Sunday November 13, 2022, the media reported that an unidentified man had been shot and killed in Umoja estate in Nairobi, by a police officer. The police officer was arrested by his colleagues after committing the crime in front of several witnesses.
Nairobi News can now reveal that the deceased was Steven Sunrise “Sunny” Osedo, the first cousin to gospel singers Daddy Owen and Rufftone (born Owen and Smith Mwatia respectively).
Daddy Owen now claims his cousin’s death was a case of extrajudicial killing by the police.
The family of the deceased is also demanding for justice as emerged that the police officer who fired the fatal shot has previously been arrested and held at Kamukunji Police Station.
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Speaking exclusively to Nairobi News, Daddy Owen said a post-mortem conducted at the City Mortuary revealed that his cousin had been shot in the back of the head.
“Sunny was a very jovial man. He used to play football for Mathare FC then he became a coach until the time of his death. If you go to Eastlands, everyone knows him as a coach. He had a wife and two kids. He was a very polite guy, very hardworking and he enjoyed every day as it came. He ate, lived and talked football and he loved music. He was a very simple guy, not complicated and those guys who were over the moon happy,” Daddy Owen eulogized his late cousin.
The gospel artiste said the only information available to the family was that Sunny had no weapon on him during the incident and had been defenseless when he was accosted by the police officer.
“It says a lot. The only information both the police and us (family) have gathered is that the police officer just came and shot him in the back of the head. We don’t know what exactly transpired – in fact the officer is admitted at the Kenyatta National Hospital right now because witnesses beat him up after the shooting. They were so angered by the officer’s action because from what they saw, Sunny didn’t do anything to deserve being killed,” Daddy Owen said.
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Neither the police nor Sunny’s family knew if he and the police officer knew each other or had crossed paths before but investigations into the incident is ongoing.
“Sunny was so defenseless. Shooting someone in the back of the head at pointblank – he wasn’t running or anything, it was just pointblank. It appeared like an execution. We know our cousin. He grew up around us – even from what the police are telling us of their preliminary investigation without even the family telling them anything, they found that Sunny didn’t do anything wrong and are wondering why this happened because they did not find any weapon, didn’t find that there had been a fight and the post-mortem revealed that there hadn’t been any scuffle between him and the cop,” said Daddy Owen.
In demanding for justice for Sunny, Daddy Owen said the family wanted the police officer arraigned in court and charged with murder.
“If a cop is not brought to justice for any crime, they always feel like they are above the law. If such are nipped in the bud before they grow, it will prevent so many things. If action had been taken against this cop, maybe he wouldn’t have been on the streets running around to kill my cousin. If the case is similar from what I’ve heard, then he shouldn’t be on the streets!” Daddy Owen said.
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