7 University Students Held Over Daystar Peer’s Death in Ngara Apartment
"The body had visible injuries on the head, lying dead, suspected to have been murdered," Nyangige stated.
Seven university students were detained by a magistrate’s court in Nairobi for investigations following the death of their fellow student on the night of November 22, this year, in a residential apartment in Ngara.
Corporal Johnes Nyangige, a police officer and investigator attached to Parklands Police Station, appeared before the Milimani Chief Magistrate, Dolphina Alego, seeking 10 days’ custodial orders to interrogate the seven and determine what transpired on the fateful day.
The court heard that the respondents were from different universities, being Kenyatta University, KCA University, Mt Kenya University, and the University of Nairobi.
The police arrested the respondents on November 23, 2025, within the Ngara area after Patrick Mbugua, a security guard at Harmony Plaza, reported the incident.
In his report, Mbugua informed the DCI that at around 0227 hours, a group of six students proceeded to the 12th-floor room K78, where they started partying and making noise by shouting, singing, and playing the guitar. He moved to the said room and ordered them to stop, which they obeyed.
At around 0410 hours, four of them left the premises and later returned. The guard asked one of them, Dennis Kariuki Gitonga, who is a tenant in the said apartment, 11th floor, whether they were his visitors, which he confirmed.
They proceeded to the lift, and after a few minutes, the guard heard a loud bang. He hurriedly went to check, where he found the body of a 23-year-old Lorna Kathambi Karani, a fourth-year student at Daystar University, lying dead on the ground floor.
The security guard reported the incident at Parklands Police Station, and officers from the station, accompanied by the DCI, visited the scene and confirmed the details.
“The body had visible injuries on the head, lying dead, suspected the victim to have been murdered,” Nyangige stated.
During the investigations, the seven Dennis Kariuki Gitonga, Loise Osiro, Luc Moraa, Ali Kibwana Kamaku, Precious Kendi Mutembei, Austine Ochieng, and Wendy Kerubo were arrested in connection with the death since they were together throughout the night.
Upon searching for the House of Kariuki, they recovered a mobile phone, a Nokia, a national identity card bearing the deceased’s name, and a pair of shoes believed to be those of the deceased.
While pleading with the court to grant an order to detain the suspects for 10 days, he informed the Magistrate that the investigation is complex, as it involves retrieving CCTV footage, recording statements from eyewitnesses, and tracing some of the respondents’ colleagues who are yet to be identified.
He added that the mobile phones of the respondents need to be taken to the DCI headquarters along Kiambu Road for forensic analysis, together with the CCTV footage, and they cannot complete the tasks within a day.
The officer also added that, “family members of the deceased who reside in Meru are yet to come to Nairobi to identify the body of their kin to allow the autopsy.”
Nyangige further stated that the students are flight risks, as they live in rented houses, and there is a possibility of them leaving the jurisdiction of the court, as well as a high likelihood of interfering with witnesses.
The defence lawyer pleaded with the court to release them on bond, assuring the court that they would present them to the DCI whenever they are required.
In determination, the Magistrate considered the application by the prosecution and the defence and noted the gravity of the offence,
“By considering all parties, this honourable court granted the officer investigating the matter seven days to hold the suspects and come back on Monday next week with a conclusion of investigations,” the Magistrate ruled.
She ordered the students to be detained at Parklands Police Station until Monday, December 3, 2025.
