Elgeyo-Marakwet: Woman sentenced to 3-year probation for killing husband over Ksh.1K

Appearing before Justice Eric Ogola on Monday, Winnie Kiprop confessed to killing Jeremiah Kirotich in August 2018 during an argument over the money which was supposed to be spent on food.

The prosecution told the court that Mr. Kirotich was drunk during the scuffle and after the fight escalated, Kiprops’s sister, Irene Yatich, joined in and hit the deceased with a stone. 

Mr. Kirotich is said to have surrendered the money and gone to bed, after which he complained of headaches and took painkillers.

When his wife tried to wake him up in the morning, however, he was reportedly unresponsive.

“At that point, the accused went and notified neighbors and relatives. It was then established that the husband had died. The accused and her sister were arrested,” the prosecution was quoted as testifying by The Standard.

According to postmortem results, Mr. Kirotich suffered blunt trauma to the head. Ms. Kiprop said she was remorseful, terming the events which led to her husband’s death as unfortunate.

Ms.Kiprop had been charged with murder but after entering a plea bargain with the prosecution, her charges were reduced manslaughter

While noting that the accused had been in custody for four years during which she had delivered a baby, Justice Ogola said that a non-custodial sentence was best suited.

“The proof of the offense of manslaughter attracts a maximum sentence of life in prison. In this case, however, there was clear provocation. The fight did not immediately result in death. Death followed later, unexpectedly,” ruled the judge.