The victim succumbed to injuries during a chaotic party held at a short-stay rental apartment.
The suspect, identified by police as Constable Makabila Mathayo Matonya of the Kenya Prisons Service, is attached to the Prisons Staff Training College in Ruiru’s sports section.
In a telephone interview, Juja Sub-County Police Commander Isaac Kombo confirmed that the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has taken over the case and secured a 15-day custodial order at the Kibii Police Station to complete their homicide investigations before formal charges are preferred.
“Our teams have secured a miscellaneous application to keep the suspect in custody for over two weeks so we can conduct proper investigations and build a watertight case before he is officially arraigned in court,” OCPD Isaac Kombo stated during the interview.
According to police records from Mugutha Police Station, the incident unfolded in the early hours at the Astrol Apartments.
Security guards manning the complex were initially alerted to a violent commotion in Room B906 on the ninth floor.
Upon checking the room, guards discovered three men locked in a heated altercation and advised them to keep the peace.
Shortly after the guards returned downstairs, one of the occupants, Mike Oloo Odero, rushed down to report that their friend, 17-year-old Michael Mwangi, had been thrown over the balcony rail.
Guards rushed to the back of the building where they discovered the teenager’s body lying in a supine position with severe fractures to his limbs and visible trauma to his face.
Security personnel raced back to the apartment and intercepted Matonya as he attempted to flee the scene.
The guards locked the prison officer inside the room using an external padlock, but the suspect managed to smash through the locking mechanism just as police arrived to handcuff him.
Detectives and Crime Scene Investigators who processed the apartment described a gruesome scene in complete disarray, with heavy blood splatters covering the floor, walls, bedding, and the balcony area.
A blood-stained knife was among the key exhibits recovered from the room.
CCTV footage retrieved from the premises shows a timeline of the victim’s final hours, revealing deep tension among the group.
At one point during the night, the young victim was seen fleeing into the parking lot wearing only his undergarments, attempting to hide behind parked vehicles.
He was pursued by Odero and an unidentified woman, who eventually convinced the hesitant teenager to return to the room.
Moments after they went back upstairs, the security cameras captured two women fleeing the building in a panic, followed shortly by Odero going to alert the guards.
Speaking on the possible motive behind the fatal fall, OCPD Isaac Kombo noted that detectives are pursuing multiple lines of inquiry, including a crime of passion or a financial dispute.
Matonya had reportedly rented the apartment just two days prior, immediately after flying back into Kenya from his sporting assignment in Central Asia, and had invited friends over for a continuous homecoming celebration.
“We haven’t conclusively established the absolute motive, but we know the main suspect was paying for the room,” OCPD Kombo said.
“It seems he discovered the deceased could have been having an affair with one of the girls, whom we believe was the suspect’s girlfriend. Again, it could have been an illicit deal gone sour.”
The victim’s body was transferred to the General Kago Funeral Home in Thika pending an autopsy.
The police chief added that detectives have already established the phone contacts of the two women who fled the scene and are relying on mobile technology to track them down, as Odero and Matonya remain in custody assisting with the ongoing homicide investigation.
