The Director of Public Prosecution has directed a file on which seven university students were being investigated for the murder of their friend to be closed.
The prosecutor told Chief Magistrate Dolphina Alego that the DPP directed the case to be turned into an inquest with the seven suspects being witnesses.
This is after the CCTV footage retrieved from the crime seen showed that the deceased fell from 12 floor of an apartment in Ngara Nairobi while trying to cross over to another apartment through the grills.
The students Dennis Kariuki Gitonga, Louis Osiro, Lucy Mora, Ali Kibwana Kamaku, Precious Kendi Mutembei, Austin Ochieng and Wendy Kerubo had been in custody for seven days to allow police to conclude investigations.
The court heard that the seven are students in different universities in Nairobi including Kenyatta University, University of Nairobi, Mount Kenya University, Technical University of Nairobi and KCA University.
Investigating Officer Johnes Nyanginge told the court that the respondents were arrested on 23rd of November 2025 within Ngara area.
In his affidavit, CPL Nyanginge stated that the matter was reported by Patrick Mbugua, a security guard at Harmony Plaza in Ngara.
According to the guard, at around 2.30 am, a group of six University students proceeded to 12th floor room K78 and started parting while shouting, singing and playing guitar.
“The said security guard went and ordered them to stop of which they obeyed,” the officer added.
The court heard that at around 4 am, four of them left the apartment premises and later returned.
It os alleged that the guard asked Gitonga who is a tenant at 11th floor room L75, if they were his visitors of which he confirmed and the security guard warned them not to make unnecessary noise.
“The group then proceeded to the lift and after a few minutes the security guard heard a big bang. He hurriedly went to check found the body of 23 year old Lorna Kathambi Karani, a 4th year student at Daystar university, lying dead on the ground floor.
Investigating Officer Johnes Nyanginge also told the court the deceased toxicology report showed that she was intoxicated before meeting her untimely death.
