The High Court has sentenced a matatu driver and conductor to 10 years in prison each after finding them guilty of murdering a 21-year-old college student who fell from their speeding vehicle on Thika Road nearly eight years ago.
The court handed the sentence to Amos Muigai Mwangi and Alex Musembi Musyoka, ruling that their actions on June 13, 2018, showed a reckless disregard for human life and directly led to the death of Doreen Kinya.
The case stemmed from an incident involving a matatu operated by Zamzam 45 Limited along the Githurai route.
Court records show that Doreen was travelling in the vehicle when it reached the Queen of Apostles Church area on Thika Road. She fell from the moving matatu and sustained fatal injuries.
In its judgment, the court found that the two crew members were criminally responsible for her death after continuing to speed while the passenger door remained open.
The judge found that the driver and conductor knew, or ought to have known, that a passenger attempting to alight from a moving vehicle faced a serious risk of death or grievous injury.
“By continuing to speed when the passenger door was open, they both knew or ought to have known that any passenger attempting to alight would suffer grievous harm or even death. It was grossly negligent and reckless; a total disregard for the safety and life of the deceased,” the court said.
A matatu driver and a conductor have been sentenced to 10 years in prison over the death of a student who fell from their speeding vehicle on Thika Road nearly eight years ago.
Photo credit: Pool
In the sentencing decision, the judge said the conduct of the two men went beyond ordinary negligence.
The prosecution urged the court to impose a deterrent custodial sentence, describing the conduct of the accused as “callous” and argued that the circumstances justified a substantial jail term.
The defence, however, pleaded for leniency. Their advocate told the court that both men were family breadwinners with wives and children who depended on them.
The lawyer said the second accused, the conductor, aged 34, was supporting an ailing mother and deserved “a second opportunity at life”.
Regarding the driver, the counsel said he was suffering from a hearing condition that had continued to deteriorate. The defence also pointed to the period already spent in custody.
The court heard that the two men had been in remand since their arrest in June 2018, finally securing release on bail in December 2019.
For the driver, the probation officer observed that “the absence of sufficient acknowledgment of wrong-doing undermines the prospects for effective rehabilitation if left unaddressed”.
She recommended a custodial sentence to serve as “punishment, denunciation and general deterrence”.
A similar recommendation was made for the conductor. The report cited his lack of remorse and failure to accept responsibility for the offence.
The probation reports described the victim as a promising college student whose death caused severe emotional and psychological suffering to her relatives.
The reports further noted that neither the accused nor their families had made efforts towards reconciliation with the victim’s family.
While acknowledging that both men were first offenders, the court concluded that a non-custodial sentence would not meet the demands of justice.
“Murder is a grave felony,” the judge said while noting that sentencing courts retain discretion to impose an appropriate punishment following legal developments that ended the mandatory nature of the death sentence.
