How a teen from Kisii lured for a city job ended up dead in Utawala
Police in Kayole Sub County, Nairobi County, has arrested a man who allegedly murdered a minor identified as Beckham Sylvester Atika in Utawala, Nairobi County.
Mr Michael Joseph was on Friday ordered by the police to avail himself at the station after it emerged that he was the one who was living with the minor since he disappeared from their home in Kitutu Chache South, Kisii County.
His uncle Mr Elvis Origa told Nairobi News that all was going on well until November 2021, when the minor aged 16 years old disappeared from the home where he lived with his mother.
“He then decided to go and live with his sister, he had committed a mistake and must have acted out of fear that he would be disciplined hence the reason he went into hiding,” said Mr Origa.
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According to him, he was staying with his sister until he met Mr Joseph who told him that he was in a position of getting him a job within the city.
All this time, the minor was okay until January 1, 2023, when Mr Atika was informed by his sister, who resides in Daraja Mbili, Kisii County, that he had passed away.
“My sister called me and informed me that my nephew had been murdered and that is how I started searching for the truth,” Mr Atika said.
According to him, he attempted to reach out to the suspect, but he kept on dodging him until Friday last week when he was asked to appear before the Kayole police station.
He is expected to appear in court over the murder of the teen. Detectives consider him the main suspect in the case.
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A detective attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) at Kayole police station said that the suspect informed them that a mob beat up the deceased.
“He informed officers investigating the case that the boy was killed by a mob but we have received information from witnesses which is contrary to his statement,” said the officer, who spoke in confidence as they are not authorised to address the media.
A postmortem conducted on the deceased’s body clearly shows that he was strangled to death.
Mr Atika told this reporter that the minor’s body was removed from Mama Lucy Hospital morgue and taken to the Kenyatta University morgue.
Currently, plans are underway to have the body ferried to Kisii County where he will rest.
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