The High Court in Eldoret has sentenced a 33-year-old woman to three years in prison after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter for fatally stabbing her boyfriend during a domestic dispute.
Justice John Anuro handed down the sentence after convicting Anne Nyaboke on her own plea of guilty under a plea bargain agreement. The court, however, declined the prosecution’s recommendation that she be granted a non-custodial sentence.
The court heard that Nyaboke, then aged about 27, was living with her 28-year-old boyfriend, Rensal Opiyo, in her rented house in the Joyland area of Baringo.
According to court proceedings, Nyaboke returned home at about 10 p.m. on December 23, 2020, where an argument broke out after Opiyo questioned her over arriving home late.
“The deceased Rensal Opiyo and the accused were boyfriend and girlfriend. They were living together in the accused’s rented house at Joyland, Baringo area.
“On December 23, 2020, the accused person arrived home at around 10 pm and found the deceased who picked a quarrel with the accused for coming home late,” the court heard.
The disagreement escalated into a physical confrontation before Nyaboke allegedly went to the kitchen, picked up a knife and stabbed Opiyo in the left side of the chest.
She later raised an alarm, attracting neighbours who found the victim lying in a pool of blood.
Opiyo was rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. Medical personnel reported the incident to police, who arrested Nyaboke and recovered the suspected murder weapon from her house.
A post-mortem examination conducted at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital established that Opiyo died from severe blood loss caused by the stab wound to his chest.
Nyaboke was initially charged with murder before the case was reduced to manslaughter under a plea bargain agreement, leading to her conviction and three-year prison sentence.
