NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 2 – Seven Daystar University students previously linked to the death of a 23-year-old fellow student, Lorna Kathambi Karani, have been released after CCTV footage conclusively showed she fell while attempting to jump between balconies at Harmony Plaza Apartments in Ngara, Nairobi.
The new evidence presented at the Milimani Law Courts on Monday cleared the students of any criminal involvement.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has now ordered a public inquest, with the students set to appear as state witnesses.
According to investigators, the video captured Kathambi trying to leap from one wing of the building to another on the night of November 23.
Austin Ochieng, one of the students she was with, reportedly managed to cross safely. Kathambi slipped and fell from the 11th floor, dying instantly.
A toxicology report presented in court further revealed that she was highly intoxicated at the time of her death.
According to an affidavit by DCI Corporal Johnes Nyangige, Kathambi had been partying with seven fellow students before the tragedy.
The group arrived at Harmony Plaza visibly intoxicated, and residents later reported hearing them singing and playing a guitar on the 12th floor.
Moments after four of the students briefly stepped out of the apartment, a loud thud was heard. A security guard eventually discovered Kathambi’s body on the ground floor.
Investigators later found some of her personal items inside the apartment belonging to Dennis Kariuki Gitonga, one of the students.
Police initially sought 10 more days to analyze additional CCTV footage, obtain call data, record further statements, and await an autopsy report.
However, after reviewing the newly obtained video and toxicology findings, the DPP directed the case to proceed as an inquest rather than a criminal trial.
During the mention, Magistrate Dolphina Alego took a moment to address the students directly, asking them to reflect on the consequences of alcohol consumption during their week stay in custody.
After reviewing the investigation file, the court closed the criminal matter and ordered the immediate release of the seven students: Dennis Kariuki Gitonga, Louis Osiro, Lucy Moraa, Ali Kibwana Kamaku, Precious Kendi Mutembei, Austin Ochieng, and Wendi Kerubo.
They will now testify as state witnesses in the upcoming public inquest into Lorna Kathambi’s death.
