How a pastor’s son met his death in Nyali

Family and relatives mourn death of 21-year-old David Stewart at their Nyali home in Mombasa on June 13, 2019. PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • David Stewart was found outside his parent's house in Nyali, unconscious and rained on, after a night out with two friends.
  • The two friends are being questioned by police in Nyali.
  • An autopsy was conducted but it ruled out some of the suspicions the family had that their kin was injected with a poisonous substance.
  • Police say he died of breathing complications after one of his lungs failed.

On Wednesday night, 21-year-old David Stewart left home in Nyali and drove to his friend’s house in Mkomani, Mombasa.

After picking up his friend identified only by his nickname Ranger, the two drove to Links Garden to get another friend, Alex.

The three then went to Mombasa Central Business District where they were planning to spend the night having fun.

“They proceeded to Mama Ngina Drive, but they found that it was not accessible and so they decided to drive to Casablanca Club,” according to the police report.

Outside the bar on Moi Avenue, the trio were flagged down by a police officer but Stewart -- who was driving -- sped off.

“They came in at a high speed and ordered that I open the gate, which I did. They said someone was chasing after them, but luckily they got in,” said Mr Samuel Saitewa, a watchman at Stewart’s home.

Several minutes after midnight, the three left Stewart’s house on foot and went to Ranger’s home in Mkomani where they stayed up until the wee hours.

At around 3 am, Stewart and Alex, who were already drunk, decided to go home.

“Ranger called his friend who owns a car and asked him to drop the two, but the two could not met request to pay Sh500 for fuel,” reads the police statements.

It was then Stewart contacted a boda boda rider to take him and Alex home.

But since Stewart seemed ‘too drunk’, Ranger decided to escort him.

“After dropping their Italian friend home [Alex], Ranger and the boda boda operator took Stewart home,” said a police officer privy to the matter.

Stewart’s elder brother Lucky Munene said Ranger and the boda boda operator identified as Abdallah dropped him at the gate.

“The report we got is that he was staggering when he got in. The watchman ensured that he was safe and left him inside the compound,” said Munene.

According to relatives who spoke to the Nation, Stewart got into the house and picked up a blanket then went outside near the servant quarters where he slept.

His mother, a pastor who runs a church in Changamwe, found him outside the house after night vigil at about 6 am. 

“My mother saw him lying down and he had been rained on. She [tried to] wake him up but noticed that he was not okay and that’s when he was rushed to Premier Hospital where he was announced dead on arrival,” said Munene.

Munene claimed that there was a sign he had been injected on the neck when he was found and fear that he was poisoned.

The family reported the matter to the police in Nyali and an autopsy was conducted on Friday at Pandya Hospital. The autopsy revealed Steward died of breathing complications.

According to the report, the left lung failed but his neck had not been injected as had earlier been claimed by his brother.

Nyali Sub County Police Commander Simon Thirikwa said they could not rule out poisoning as the cause of death.

“The poison can be in different ways including drugs overdose, but let us not speculate. We are sending samples to our government chemist for toxicology from which we will know whether he was intoxicated or poisoned,” said Mr Thirikwa.

The police chief said Stewart’s friends are being held for questioning.

The toxicology results are expected in two weeks’ time as the family makes burial arrangements.