Kenyan Lawyer Assa Nyakundi to be Charged with Murder of His Son

Nairobi-based lawyer Assa Nyakundi is set to be charged with the murder of his 29-year-old son Joseph Bogonko.

This comes after the court dismissed his application seeking to stop the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Noordin Haji’s bid to charge him with murder. He argued that there is an ongoing manslaughter case against him at Kiambu Law Courts.

On Monday, High Court judge Daniel Ogembo ruled that Nyakundi’s application lacked merit and that the DPP did not abuse the legal process by instituting the murder charge against the lawyer.

Last year, Haji applied to terminate manslaughter charges against Nyakundi with a view of preferring murder charges based on new evidence.

“The new evidence would warrant murder charges against Nyakundi at the High Court,” DPP said.

Nyakundi shot and killed his son in March last year as they headed to their home in Nairobi’s Muthaiga North estate from ICC Church on Mombasa Road.

The attorney told police that when he approached his house, he reached for his pistol to safeguard it but accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting his son, who was in the back seat of the car. 

But an autopsy report indicated that the deceased was shot from outside the car and succumbed to excessive bleeding.

“The shot projection from the chest exiting at the back suggested that whoever shot him was standing outside the rear right back door of motor vehicle KCE 753B Toyota Axio which belongs to the father of deceased,” the report reads in part 

Nyakundi was arrested and later released on Sh300,000 cash bail after denying manslaughter charges.