It was once the crown jewel of Nairobi’s middle-class aspiration, but today, the leafy suburb of Kilimani is being whispered about in darker tones.
For a while, Kilimani made headlines as a hotbed of white-collar crime — wash wash schemes, fake gold scams, among others. But for much of 2025, the disgraced neighbourhood has drawn media attention for chilling deaths involving fatal plunges.
In 2025 alone, six individuals have met a gruesome end after plunging from Kilimani’s towering apartment blocks.
The pattern is so consistent and so mysterious that many are left asking: Is this a run of tragic bad luck, a surge in high-rise crime, or something more supernatural?
Below are some of the tragic deaths reported in Kilimani in 2025:
1. Festus Lee Oromo (14th floor)
On November 30, 2025, the Heartland Apartments on Kindaruma Road became a crime scene.
25-year-old Festus Lee Oromo booked a one-way ticket to Sayun after plunging 14 stories, landing on a parked Nissan Tiida.
Oromo had checked into an Airbnb with a 48-year-old woman, Lilian Moraa Mbeki, whom he met on Tinder.
CCTV footage captured a scuffle between Oromo and Mbeki shortly before he plunged to his death.
Two suspects, Mbeki and Patrick Jagongo, were arrested and detained as detectives investigated whether he was pushed or fell.
Police found the room in disarray, suggesting a violent struggle.
2. Evans Githua (14th floor)
Just yesterday, December 23, 2025, a 51-year-old man identified as Evans Githua fell to his death from the 14th floor of the Alba Apartments along Kasuku Road in Kilimani, Nairobi.
The deceased was the CEO of Com Twenty One, a Nairobi-based Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) firm.
He checked into a short-stay bedsitter apartment on Monday, December 22, 2025, at approximately 8:54 pm.
His body was discovered behind the apartment building the following afternoon.
Police found the apartment locked from the inside, requiring them to force entry.
Inside, they discovered a used scalpel, alcohol, and various medications. The detective also noticed extensive bloodstains throughout the room, including the bed area and washrooms – likely indications of self-harm, specifically injuries to both wrists inflicted prior to the fall.
A chair and towel in the shower area were also found, which investigators believe pointed to initial attempts to end his life.
Police are currently treating the death as a suspected suicide. The body has been moved to the Lee Funeral Home for a post-mortem examination as investigations continue.
3. Zeituni Kavayo ‘Mama Fua’ (5th floor)
Zeituni Kavayo died on September 18, 2025, after falling from the fifth floor of an apartment on Mpunga Road in Kilimani.
Kavayo, a 55-year-old domestic worker from Kibera, was said to have been called back to the apartment after finishing her laundry duties.
Her employer, a Sudanese family, is reported to have accused her of stealing Ksh5,000 from a trouser pocket.
Amateur footage surfaced showing Kavayo hanging from a balcony while a man in a white shirt briefly held her before letting go. She was seen moving from the fifth to the third floor via the balconies before eventually plunging to her death.
Police arrested four to five Sudanese nationals—including a mother, her two daughters, and a son—in connection with the suspicious death.
An autopsy confirmed she died from multiple injuries and blunt force trauma consistent with a high fall.
The Cabinet Secretary for Labour, Alfred Mutua, condemned the death as a heinous act resulting from harassment and abuse, calling for immediate justice and better protection for domestic workers.
“The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection has received with deep shock and sadness the tragic news of the sudden death of Kavayo, a domestic worker in Nairobi, reportedly as a result of harassment and abuse by her employer, while carrying out duties in Kilimani, Nairobi. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the late Zeituni,” Alfred Mutua said.
Her death sparked large protests by Kibera residents and domestic worker unions, who marched to the Kilimani apartment demanding an end to the exploitation of low-ranking workers.
A neighbourhood under a cloud
Apart from these fatal falls reported in Kilimani, the neighbourhood has also recorded chilling homicides in recent days.
The sheer frequency of these cases has sparked a national debate. Is the unregulated nature of Kilimani’s booming Airbnb scene providing a cover for ‘private’ violence? Or is there a darker energy at play in these vertical slums?
From drinking sprees that turn deadly to domestic disputes that end on the pavement, Kilimani has become a ‘neighbourhood of shadows’.
As the year draws to a close, the residents of these high-rises are certainly looking at their balconies with a new sense of dread.
