Eric Mutinda at the Kibera high court./FILE
The report by a psychiatrist from Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital shows Mutinda is mentally unstable.
The report says Mutinda, who appeared unaccompanied by a relative for corroborative history, denied involvement in the offence but acknowledged having been charged with the murder.
Mutinda was fairly groomed and cooperative with difficulty, the report shows. However, the doctors found his speech to be low in tone and pitch with a history considered unreliable.
"He is not fit to plead and recommended further corroborative history from his next of kin to complete the evaluation,” the psychiatrist recommended.
Mutinda’s case was due to start for a hearing before Kibera High Court judge Diana Kavedza on Monday.
The court, having received the report, directed the Prisons Department to take Mutinda back to Mathari National Teaching and Referral Hospital for a re-evaluation. Justice Kavedza directed that the suspect be accompanied by a relative.
Mutinda had last month pleaded not guilty to murdering Sylvia Kemunto at the Multimedia University in late march.
The plea was taken before he underwent the mental assessment. It was after this plea that the court ordered a psychiatric evaluation.
The court is expected to receive an updated mental assessment report by Friday June 27 before it makes further directions on how the case will proceed.
Mutinda is facing charges of killing fellow student Sylvia Kemunto in March at the Multimedia University, where they were both students.
The first-year mass communications and computer science was last seen with Mutinda in her hostel room before she disappeared under mysterious circumstances on March 30.
Kemunto's body was later found in a water tank at the top of a hostel within the institution on April 2 after she had gone missing for days.
An autopsy revealed that she was strangled. She also sustained head injuries caused by a blunt object.
Mutinda was arrested after he surrendered to authorities in Mtito Andei in Makueni county.
