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Kenyan couple found dead with gunshot wounds in US


Kenyans in New Jersey, United States, are reeling from shock after a Kenyan couple was found dead in their home.

Mr Henry Okong’o and his wife Lydiah were found with gunshot wounds in separate rooms of their country village home on Monday morning.

They were pronounced dead at the scene.

Reports in local press indicate that authorities in Jersey City, New Jersey, are investigating a murder-suicide.

It is reported that the discovery was made before 9am and it is unclear who was responsible for the deadly gunfire.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

However, some Kenyans in Jersey City, especially those who knew the couple, suspect the deaths could have been as a result of domestic violence.

They suspect Mr Okong’o might have shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself.

“Most of us who knew the couple very well know that they have had a tough marriage,” Said Dr George Omburo, one of the SDA church elders.

“They quarrelled a lot and they would separate for long periods only to come together again.”

Dr Omburo said neighbours reported to have heard a quarrel emanating from the house on Sunday night.

The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, which had not released any information on their investigations by the time of going to press, remained at the scene until late Monday.

Homicide detectives could be seen sifting through the mailboxes at the Sycamore Road.

‘LOVELY PEOPLE’

Neighbours gathering around the home described the Okong’o s as “lovely people” who kept their home well maintained.

Neighbours, who asked not to be named for personal reasons, said Lydiah was employed as a nurse while Mr Okongo owned a few Laundromats.

Public records show Mr Okongo owned a business on Martin Luther King Drive.

He is listed as the owner of both 2 Mina Drive, a corner house, and 120 Sycamore Road, which stands just behind the other home on the opposite corner.

Hundreds of residents rallied him and helped save his business in 2013 when his lease was up and had defaulted on rent payments.

A family member discovered the bodies and the couple’s children— a two-month-old and a five-year-old, are believed to have been inside the home when the gunfire erupted.