•The lawyer reported to police that he accidentally shot his son in a car outside their Muthaiga home on Sunday
• Detectives said two shots were fired, post mortem suggests he could have been shot from outside the vehicle.
Image: GEORGE MUGO
A court has ordered lawyer Assa Nyakundi to be held in connection with his son's murder after he is discharged from hospital.
A police officer attached to Starehe DCI on Friday was directed to serve Nyakundi with an application seeking to detain him for 14 days. He is suspected of killing his son in Muthaiga.
He was admitted to Nairobi Hospital after the shooting on Sunday and remains hospitalised. He is under guard.
PC Godfrey Munene had requested 14 days to conclude his investigations into the killing.
Makadara senior principal magistrate Angelo Kithinji declined to grant the orders and asked the investigating officer to serve the lawyer with the application.
"The court cannot give orders for detention in the absence of the suspect. He needs to be served with the application so that he is made aware of it," the magistrate ruled.
He ordered that immediately Nyakundi is discharged from hospital he must appear in court.
In the affidavits before court, Munene says Nyakundi was arrested on March 17 and allegedly taken ill. He was temporarily released from custody and taken to Nairobi Hospital where he has been undergoing treatment.
"The deceased is his biological son and family members including his household employees are potential witnesses. We are apprehensive that if the suspect is released back to his home and normal life upon discharge from hospital, he may interfere with the witnesses who have not recorded their statements," he told the court.
He further said other exhibits including the motor vehicle, clothing, mobile phones and DNA samples have been sent to authorities but a report has not been received.
He said preliminary investigations indicate that Nyakundi is directly connected or otherwise involved with the death of his son.
"The DCI office is investigating the matter with view of establishing circumstances of the facts thereof of the shooting and death of the deceased with a view of charging the suspect before court or any other person involved accordingly upon completion of relevant investigations," he told the court.
Munene said the suspect is a person of high standing in society and is likely to use his influence to interfere with the ongoing investigations to his advantage.
“Investigations into this matter are complex, time-consuming and involve several agencies and organisations, which require time before forwarding the same to the ODPP for perusal, hence, the request for custodial orders,” the court heard.
He requested the court to remand the suspect at Pangani police station once he is discharged from hospital.
Nyakundi's son died after being shot by his father as they returned to their Muthaiga home from church on Sunday.
Nyakundi said he was trying to holster his firearm when he accidentally fired, shooting his son. The lawyer reported to police that day that he had mistakenly shot dead his son, Joseph Nyakundi.
Detectives on Tuesday said Nyakundi fired twice during the incident that left his son dead.