Lawyer re-arrested over son’s death, to face murder charges

Nairobi lawyer Assa Nyakundi (pictured) who is facing manslaughter charges against his 29-year-old son Joseph Bogonko Nyakundi was has been re-arrested.

Nyakundi was arrested moments after leaving his lawyer John Khaminwa’s office in Kileleshwa and taken to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters.

DCI boss George Kinoti said the lawyer will face murder charges. This gave an indication the Director of Public Prosecution had okayed the new charges. He had earlier on been charged with manslaughter and released on bond.

His arrest came hours after Justice Ngenye Macharia directed the application by Nyakundi challenging the DPP’s decision to drop manslaughter charges and instead charge him with murder be heard before Justice Luka Kimaru.

Nyakundi shot his 29-year-old son on March 17, 2019.

Lawyer Nyakundi then told police that he was trying to holster his firearm while in the car when he accidentally fired, shooting his son in the chest

Nyakundi has since been charged with manslaughter and is out on a cash bail of Sh300,000 and a Sh1 million surety.

The deceased was buried on April 2, 2019 at the Lang’ata Cemetery.

The prosecution opted to prefer a manslaughter charge, which under Section 205 of the Penal Code attracts life imprisonment upon conviction.

The lawyer had been admitted to hospital with police telling the court during previous appearances that he was not in a stable condition to allow statement recording.

His wife has made an application in court to stop the new planned charges.

The charges facing Nyakundi have been controversial as they cost an earlier team that was handling the case. Some officers accused their colleagues of bungling the case which saw them prefer manslaughter charges.

They had worked with prosecutors from the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution to arrive at the conclusion.