The family of Sheryl Awino view her body at Kendu Adventist Hospital Mortuary in Homa Bay Country on February 1, 2025.
On January 30, Judith Atieno had a telephone conversation with her daughter. The two spoke for a couple of minutes, sharing some light moments, before hanging up.
During their chat, her daughter Sheryl Awino informed her that she was having a stubborn headache.
The 20-year-old Awino was a student at Mawego National Polytechnic in Rachuonyo North, Homa Bay County.
“I told her that the headache could have been caused by a change of environment and that she shouldn't worry,” Ms Atieno said.
Little did the mother and daughter know that this would be their last conversation.
Two days later, on a Saturday, Ms Atieno received a telephone call that left her devastated and distraught. Awino was no more.
Ms Awino had been stabbed and rushed to hospital. It was also the first time Ms Atieno learned that her daughter had a boyfriend, who was suspected to be behind the attack.
The grief-stricken Atieno immediately abandoned her home engagements and rushed to Kendu Adventist Hospital where her daughter had been taken.
Ms Awino’s father, John Odongo, was also informed about the tragic incident a few moments later. He was preparing to start cultivating his farm when he received the bad tragic news.
His daughter's roommate was on the line bearing the sad news. She informed Mr Odongo that his daughter was admitted and he was urgently needed in hospital.
“I could not just leave my home like that so I asked the caller to divulge more information regarding the incident. I also reached out to the landlord of the house where my daughter stays but he didn't answer my call,” he said.
Mr Odongo thereafter decided to call his daughter’s number after a brief hesitation, hoping to hear her voice, but a male voice answered.
It was a medical officer at the hospital who was attending to his daughter. It was the medic who delivered the final blow to Mr Odongo.
“He said my daughter had passed away a few minutes before I called her number,” he said.
Later, Mr Odongo established that his daughter was last seen at her hostel on Friday evening when a male friend visited her.
The man, whom he found out was his daughter's boyfriend, was on industrial attachment but had returned to the college to check on her.
Mr Odongo said witnesses had informed him that they were woken up by commotion that was coming from his daughter’s house at 5am on Saturday.
“A few people woke up to check what was happening but because of darkness, they decided not to get involved,” he said.
However, moments after the commotion fizzled out, a student who had gone out of his room to answer a call of nature spotted the suspect dragging Awino on the ground and raised an alarm.
“The students informed us that the man escaped into the darkness upon seeing the other students. One of the students who gave chase reportedly stumbled on my daughter who was lying on the ground,” Mr Odongo said.
Awino was rushed to hospital with an open wound on her abdomen.
At the hospital, medical officers discovered that she was pregnant and the knife that was used to stab her killed her unborn child as well. Her family had no idea that she was expecting a baby.
“During postmortem, it was discovered that she was pregnant. Unfortunately, I have lost a daughter and a grandchild at the same time,” Mr Odongo said.
The family said justice should be accorded to his daughter.
Rachuonyo North Police Commander Lydia Parteyie on Sunday said investigators had launched a manhunt for the suspect.
She said the man left behind a motorcycle which he used to travel to the scene.
“He also left his mobile phone at the scene. Our officers are trailing him and he will be arrested to face murder charges,” Ms Parteyie said.
Police are yet to establish the motive behind the stabbing, even though they suspect that it could have been triggered by a disagreement over a love affair.
Ms Awino hailed from Lambwe in Homa Bay County and had recently traveled back to college to continue with her course in land survey.
She had enrolled at the institution in 2024 and was undertaking her second semester.
Her parents were looking up to her to turn around the fortunes of her family.
