Family in anguish after 2-year-old child is hit by 12 year old boy

Derrick Wayodi, father to Angel Achieng. [David Gichuru/Standard]

On Monday afternoon, Derrick Wayodi went to visit his neighbour in Komarock whose Standard Eight son was unwell.

The 12-year-old boy had injured his arm last Friday when he fell from a mango tree.

Mr Wayodi’s friend’s home is about 200 metres from his. When he arrived, he found that the boy had just returned from hospital with his mother.

“The boy left us talking in the house. After about five minutes, I also decided to leave,” Wayodi said.

But as he stepped outside, he heard screams. His stomach clenched when he saw the boy he had come to see running towards him.

“I asked him why he was running and he said he had accidentally hit my two-year-old daughter Angel with a car,” Wayodi said.

He ran towards the screams and came face to face with horror: His daughter lay motionless in a pool of her own blood.

“I felt weak. I was trembling. Some parts of her body were swollen and she was bleeding,” he said.

While Wayodi stood there paralysed, a neighbour’s car arrived and Angel was rushed to hospital.

Wayodi, not knowing what to do, rushed home, and got into his car to try to catch up with the vehicle carrying his daughter.

He went to Mama Lucy Hospital but the child was not there. He did not find her at the Aga Khan clinic in Komarock. He finally found her at Modern Hospital.

Wayodi said the doctor reported that Angel was bleeding from the ears and mouth and had a fractured skull. She died while being attended to.

Angel was the last of Wayodi and Dorothy’s six children. The parents described her as a happy and talkative child who was popular in the neighbourhood.

“Angel was such a joy bringer. The day she died we all cried the whole night; we could not sleep at all,” he said.

Wayodi’s family lives a few metres from where the accident occurred and it was usual for the children to venture out and play with their friends.

The parents believed this was the safest place for their children to play in the gated community.

Wayodi said the boy’s family had expressed remorse but he still wanted justice for his daughter.

“I implore the police and the Government to do their work without fear or favour,” he said.

We were unable to speak to the boy’s parents yesterday as they were not at home.

The estate’s chairman, John Mwangi, said the boy was driving at high speed. It was not clear if it was the first he was driving a car.

Police have impounded the vehicle and it is being held at the Kayole Police Station. They have questioned some of the people who saw the accident happen.

“The life of this little girl has been cut short due to negligence. The boy is a minor and had no driving licence,” Mr Mwangi said.

The boy, his parents and Angel’s parents went to recorded statements at Kayole Police Station yesterday.

Angel will be buried next week in Alego, Siaya County.