Emotions filled the Kibera High Court as Teresiah Kemunto, the mother of slain Multimedia University student Sylvia Kemunto, took the stand in the ongoing murder trial of Eric Mutinda, who is accused of killing her daughter.
Overcome with grief, Teresiah broke down repeatedly as she recounted the moments leading up to Sylvia’s disappearance. At several points, she struggled to remain standing, prompting Justice Diana Kavedza to gently urge her to “breathe in and out” before ordering a brief recess to allow her to regain her composure.
In her testimony, the grieving mother told the court that a man identifying himself as Eric would call her phone, but Sylvia immediately recognized the voice as belonging to the person she had allegedly complained about before. According to Teresiah, her daughter had already blocked his number after experiencing what she described as harassment.
The inconsolable further disclosed that Eric had previously taken Sylvia’s phone, an incident that forced her to intervene after the matter was reported to the university.
“The school did not take immediate action at the time after Kemunto reported the matter. I had to intervene, so I called the school. Eric was called, and the phone was returned,” she testified.
When Sylvia went missing, Teresiah said she immediately launched a frantic search, contacting her daughter’s friends and the university in an effort to trace her whereabouts. After the efforts yielded no results, she reported the disappearance at Lang’ata Police Station.
She told the court that detectives later visited the university and briefly questioned Eric about Sylvia’s whereabouts. Shortly afterward, she claimed, he fled the scene, raising alarm among investigators and family members.
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Teresiah also described a disturbing discovery at her daughter’s hostel, where she found the room in disarray. The scene prompted officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to inspect both hostels at the institution.
Despite her relentless search, Teresiah said she later learned that the official missing person report had disappeared from records, forcing her to push detectives to escalate the matter. She pleaded with officers not to publicize her daughter’s disappearance as she clung to hope that Sylvia was still alive.
Phone tracking data indicated that Sylvia remained somewhere within the university compound, yet search teams failed to locate her, a situation that Teresiah said caused her immense anguish.
Her voice cracked as she recalled receiving a phone call on Thursday evening informing her that Sylvia had been found dead.
“I went to the City Mortuary that day and saw the body; it was swollen, and there were visible marks in her fingers,” she narrated, reliving the moment that shattered her hopes.
She told the court that she identified her daughter by the distinctive nail polish on her fingers.
Speaking to the courtroom, Judge Diana Kavedza noted that trials of this nature require emotional resilience and reliance on God’s grace, given the disturbing material often presented. She pointed out that judicial officers frequently encounter death and graphic evidence, comparing their daily work to that of pathologists who face similar realities.
“We see photos, we confront death every day,” Lady Justice Kavedza said, adding, “Handling murder cases requires God’s grace.”
The judge highlighted that, despite the emotional intensity of murder trials, maintaining control and order in the courtroom is crucial.
“The court must contain the emotions,” she said, before instructing that the hearing continue.
Represented by family lawyer Danstan Omari, Teresiah also opened up about her life as a single mother, explaining how she raised Sylvia alone and struggled to educate her despite limited financial means.
Sylvia, who scored an A- in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE), had dreamed of studying medicine. However, financial constraints forced her to abandon that ambition and pursue computer science instead.
“She was to do medicine, but due to financial constraints, we couldn’t make it happen. She was to study at the University of Nairobi, but I lacked the funds,” she said.
Teresiah added that Sylvia’s friends helped raise money to enable her to enroll in a computer science course at Multimedia University.
She described her daughter as ambitious, kind, and loving, saying the family continues to struggle with the magnitude of the loss.
During cross-examination, Teresiah told the court that Sylvia had rejected Eric Mutinda’s romantic advances and that she was unaware of any personal relationship between the two.
Investigators later recovered Sylvia Kemunto’s body from a water tank on the rooftop of a hostel building within the university compound. Mutinda has denied the murder charge.
The trial is ongoing, with the court expected to hear more witnesses as prosecutors seek to piece together the events that led to the death of the Multimedia University student.
