Help us know how our son died, Jeff Mwathi's family pleads with President Ruto

The family of interior designer Jeff Mwathi, who died under mysterious circumstances at the home of Mugithi singer DJ Fatxo in Nairobi's Kasarani area, wants President William Ruto to personally intervene to help them get justice.

The family has called for a re-investigation into the death of their relative, claiming that some prominent people are interfering with the investigation.

"As a family, we are not satisfied with the investigations by the DCI (Directorate of Criminal Investigations) officers. We demand a fresh investigation into the mysterious death of my son. The DCI has only given us a verbal report that Jeff committed suicide. We read mischief in the report," said Mr Peter Ngugi, Jeff's father.

"We appeal to President William Ruto to personally intervene and help us get justice. We have information that some prominent people are out to stop us from getting justice," he added.

Jeff Mwathi died at the home of DJ Fatxo at Redwoods Apartments in Kasarani, Nairobi.

On Monday, the family, addressing the media at his parents' home in Likia, Njoro, Nakuru County, demanded a fresh probe, claiming that the DCI had only given them a verbal report that their relative had died by suicide.

Mr Ngugi said they were summoned by detectives to the DCI's headquarters on May 3, 2023, where they were briefed on the outcome of the investigations ordered by the Cabinet Secretary for Interior, Prof Kithure Kindiki.

However, the family poked holes in the findings and said they were not satisfied.

“We asked them why there was poor communication between us, the family, they told us they failed to tell us because there were two investigating groups, the media and the DCI. They said that they provided the DPP with a report for action, but we wonder what it entails,” added Mr Ngugi.

Mr Ngugi wondered why the DCI, in the second phase of investigations, ruled that Jeff was murdered, but later changed tune, that he had died by suicide despite the first results having been made public.

Scene of the crime was tampered with

In particular, Jeff's father blamed the detectives who were investigating his son’s death, for failing to secure the house where the incident occurred, saying that the scene of the crime was tampered with.

“The first investigation was done by detectives from Kasarani and later it was taken over by DCI and homicide detectives. We are pleading with the DPP to consider that the scene was not secured since the first day and the evidence was tampered with. We feel that those who were inside during the incident were also coached when giving out their statements,” he said.

He said that the investigations failed to establish who closed the window that Jeff was suspected to have jumped through, saying that the caretaker of the apartment reported that all the windows were closed when the body was discovered outside.

Mr Ngugi claimed that the officers retrieved a stained pillow from DJ Faxto’s room, suspected to have been used during the murder of his son “but officers ruled that it was sweat without taking it to the government chemist to establish its components and whose it was”.

“The investigations failed to answer so many questions. We would like fresh investigations into my son’s death. As a family, we were not given the second autopsy report. We were just told they were being taken for further tests but since then we have not received any results. We want justice,” he said.

Jeff’s mother, Ms Ann Mwathi, said the DCI had accused them of trusting the media more, who according to DCI “were publishing propaganda”.

She maintained that her son was killed and yet the perpetrators are roaming freely.

Son's killers

"What pained me is that they came and exhumed my son’s remains and nothing has come out of the autopsy conducted. My son's killers should have been arrested by now to shed light on what transpired the night he was killed. I went through a hard time after they exhumed his remains then at the end they say that there is no evidence. I am heartbroken,” said the mother.

Jeff’s uncle Stephen Mwathi blamed detectives for doing a shoddy investigation, saying that the family would not get justice despite mysteriously losing their kin.

“They said that Jeff was the only one who was drinking in the house but the CCTV footage showed there was tension in the ladies' faces and yet they were not doing anything. We just want justice for his death. We don't want such happening to another person in future," he said.

On March 31 this year, Jeff's body was exhumed by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations for a fresh post-mortem to conduct a new investigation into his mysterious death.

Chief Government pathologist Johansen Oduor, who conducted the new autopsy, established that Jeff had severe head injuries and fractures on the upper and lower limbs and the neck.

Although the autopsy did not conclusively determine what caused his death, Dr Oduor said Jeff died largely because of the severe injuries he suffered.

"After the autopsy l have established that the body had severe head injuries that almost raptured the skull and it also had fractures in the upper and lower limbs and on the neck," stated Dr Oduor.

"We have taken more samples to carry out a toxicology test and also to establish if he was sexually molested before he met his death," Dr Oduor said.

A week earlier, DCI boss Mohamed Amin had joined a team probing the murder, where he directed that the body be exhumed for a second and fresh autopsy.

Investigations into his death

Mr Amin visited the scene where Mwathi died in Roysambu as detectives collected more information that they said would aid in the investigations into his death.

Mr Amin was accompanied by detectives from the homicide unit who wanted to reconstruct the scene for further investigations.

He said he visited the scene to understand what had led to Jeff's mysterious death.

On February 22, 2023, Jeff, 23, lost his life after falling from the 12th floor of Redwood Apartments in Kasarani.

Jeff had spent the day with DJ Fatxo before they retreated to his house.

The singer's cousin and driver were also present at the house alongside two women.

Officials say Jeff had met the singer hours earlier for an interior design job and that he had been promised a down payment to begin work that same morning.

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