The High Court has found former police officer David Mwongela guilty of the murder of Ahmed Majid in 2020.
At the time of his death, 24-year-old Majid had been married to his wife of 22 years for one and a half years. They had an eight-month-old baby.
In the judgement delivered on Wednesday at Milimani High Court, Justice Daniel Ogembo ruled that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt.
At the beginning of the trial, the matter was investigated by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority following reports by the media.
Ipoa then recommended that the former officer, who was based at Shauri Moyo Police Station during the incident, be charged with murder.
At least 10 people including Majid's neighbours, family, and friends were lined up as witnesses in the trial.
The court heard that Mwongela shot the deceased thrice at short range following a confrontation on January 16, 2020, at Majengo, Nairobi.
The confrontation came about as Majid tried to inquire why the police had arbitrarily arrested a man in the area alleging that they had found him to be in possession of bhang.
Following the shooting, Majid was taken to hospital where he unfortunately succumbed to the bullet injuries.
In his defence, Mwongela told the court that they had gone to effect an arrest in a house whose occupants they suspected had drugs.
He said as they attempted to arrest one suspect, they were confronted and surrounded by riotous youth and thus were forced to fire in the air.
He claimed that this was when one bullet unfortunately hit the deceased.
Upon determination of the case, Justice Ogembo however ruled that the use of force and firearms was not justified under the circumstances that led to the death of the deceased.
He noted that there was no evidence that the former Constable faced any threats to warrant his use of a firearm.
The court thereby dismissed his reliance on self-defence to justify his actions.