Kirinyaga County MCA Lucy Njeri grapples with grief and seeks justice one year after her only daughter, Seth Nyakio, was murdered. Nyakio was killed on October 14, 2024, in a rented house in Biafra Estate. The main suspect was recently arrested and brought to court.
Lucy Njeri, the 45-year-old nominated MCA for Kirinyaga County, has been enduring profound grief since the murder of her only daughter, Seth Nyakio, on October 14, 2024. Nyakio, a 23-year-old graduate in Media Communication from a private university in Thika, was killed in a rented house in Biafra Estate.
On the day of the incident, Nyakio left her family home in Kamakis Estate, Kiambu, to visit her friend, Phoebe Mwende. Mwende left her sleeping in the morning and, upon returning in the afternoon, found her dead. The post-mortem report revealed she had been strangled with hands while her nose and mouth were covered.
The main suspect, Ken Kimanthi, known as Sultan, a 27-year-old student at Thika Technical College, evaded capture for over a year. He moved across counties including Kiambu, Nairobi, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Nakuru, and Busia. He was finally arrested in Busia near the Kenya-Uganda border, where he worked in a grain shop, and charged in Kahawa court on December 15, 2025.
Njeri said, “It was the most bitter time in my life. We had a very close relationship, like friends… Then, at 23, she was murdered.” She plans to follow the case closely and is considering ways to become a mother again, perhaps through adoption to honor Nyakio. “I know I can't grieve forever. I will have to live with the reality of loss and find ways to heal,” she added, expressing her faith-driven hope. “God will calm the storm in my life. I will overcome because my God lives.”
