The teenager’s death came just four days after his mother died, leaving the family grappling with a double tragedy.
His sister, Mary Watiri, described Kimani as a peaceful boy who rarely went out and had sat his final examinations last year.
She said he contacted her on Wednesday night last week, asking for money to visit a friend who was also mourning his mother.
“He called me on Wednesday and asked me to help him with Ksh.200. He told me he was going to visit a friend who had also lost their mum. It was around 9.30pm,” Watiri said.
On Thursday morning, two of Kimani’s friends arrived at her home looking for him.
“They said they had been called by officers from Mugutha Police Station, who asked them if they knew Michael or his family members,” she said.
The family said they were informed that a body had been collected near a petrol station. They subsequently went to Mugutha Police Station, where they identified Kimani’s body inside a police vehicle.
“At Mugutha Police Station, we confirmed his body. He was in a police Land Rover. He was dressed in a pair of shorts and one of his legs appeared broken, with a shard of bone showing,” Watiri said.
She also said his face was swollen, raising the family’s concerns about what had happened before his death.
“His face was swollen like someone who had been beaten,” she said.
The circumstances surrounding the injuries remain under investigation.
Two men who were reportedly in the Airbnb apartment with Kimani have been arrested, while a female suspect remains at large.
It remains unclear how Kimani and the friend he had intended to visit ended up at the apartment, or what happened before the fatal fall.
The family is appealing to police to expedite investigations and establish the circumstances surrounding his death.
