Two brothers accused of beating their mother's boyfriend to death face murder charge

Brothers Kelvin Macharia and David Kinyua in court.

Photo credit: George Munene | Nation Media Group

Two brothers who allegedly beat up their mother's boyfriend leading to his death are now facing a murder charge at the Embu High Court.

When they appeared before Justice Lucy Njuguna, the duo denied that on the night of September 3 this year at Itherembu village in Mbeere area, they murdered Peter Mwangi who had gone to visit their mother.

The accused, David Kinyua, 26, and Kelvin Macharia, 19, are represented by lawyer Muchangi Gichugu.

According to court papers, that night, Mr Mwangi went to visit Ms Ephraith Wangari. On arrival he knocked on the door to her house. The two brothers, who were awake, confronted him and demanded to know what he was doing in their homestead.

They then took firewood logs and beat up Mr Mwangi, injuring his head and other parts of the body.

Ms Wangari was said to have pleaded with her sons to stop beating the man but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

Moments later, the mother shouted for help and neighbours responded to the distress call as the deceased writhed in pain. The brothers later retreated into their houses.

Mr Mwangi’s relative rushed to the scene after she got wind of what had happened to him, and rushed him to hospital.

The matter was reported to the area chief Solomon Mbugi who swung into action and assisted in arrest of one of the suspects.

The defence counsel argued that the two suspects were from a poor background and urged the Court to release them on reasonable bail terms of Sh100,000.

Justice Njuguna allowed the application but ordered the two be released on a Sh1 million bond each with a surety of similar amount or an alternative Sh300,000 cash bail each.

The brothers were unable to meet the bond and bail terms and were taken to remand.

The case is scheduled to be heard on October 16.