Case against house help accused of murdering her employer stalls for the second time

Jackline Auma in a courtroom in Kisumu on September 25,2018 after she has been detained in police cells for being suspected to have killed her employer and son in Muhoroni in June this year. She being the main suspect in the murder where Elizabeth Achieng and her son were slain has been recommend for psychiatric assessment before taking plea. [Photo: Denish Ochieng/ Standard])

The house help accused of killing her employer and her victim's child in Muhoroni failed to take a plea for the second time yesterday.

The prosecution had been expected to prefer charges against Jackline Auma (pictured) after the court ordered last week that she be subjected to a psychiatric test.

Yesterday Prosecutor Gloria Barasa told Justice Fred Ochieng' that the mental assessment was yet to be done and asked for more time.

“The doctor has not been available to assess her,” she said.

Auma was accused of killing Elizabeth Achieng, 26, and her three-month-old son. Mother and son's lifeless bodies were found in their bedroom.

The killings were discovered after Achieng's husband Evans Okoth went to his home  to find out what could have been wrong as he had unsuccessfully tried to reach her for two days.

Mr Okoth yesterday sat quietly in court, his eyes fixed on the woman in a pink top accused of wiping out his family. The suspect was sandwiched by two prison officers.

Okoth's three-year-old niece survived the attack.

Yesterday, the suspect only nodded her head after court clerks informed her about the court's decisions.

Justice Ochieng' ordered that a lawyer be assigned to represent her. The case will be mentioned on October 3.