Mombasa man charged with killing his girls, plea deferred

The father who admitted last week to killing his two daughters was on Monday charged with two offences of murder.

John Maina Wango’ombe, 30, was charged at the Mombasa High Court with the crimes committed on December 6 at his house in Mishomoroni, Kisauni Sub-county.

NO PLEA

Before the charges were read to Mr Maina, Judge Njoki Mwangi informed him that he was not required to respond to them.

The man confessed in court on December 7 to killing his children, Angel Wanja and Grace Wangui, at Calvary in Mishomoroni.

He killed the six and four-year-olds after inviting them into the house to eat mangoes.

He stabbed one in the chest and the other in the neck, he told a Shanzu court, but explained that he was not in the right state of mind as he was drunk.

Following a request by State Counsel Christine Ogweno, Judge Mwangi ordered a mental assessment before he can take plea.

The judge also directed the deputy registrar to appoint an advocate to represent the suspect.

REMAND

Mr Maina will be held at Shimo La Tewa Prison untill December 24 when he will return to court.

He was taken to court after spending seven days at Nyali Police Station following a request by police, who said they needed time for their probe.

Before Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate Diana Mochache two weeks ago, Mr Maina admitted that he killed his children but said he was under heavy influence of alcohol.

He said he also hit the children with a weighing machine. After killing them, he sat on a jerrican next to the bodies for about an hour.

“It is true that I killed my daughters. I was drunk ... I only realised [later] that I had committed an offence,” he told the court.

The magistrate advised him not to plead to the charges as investigations were yet to be completed.