The Director of Public Prosecution has filed an inquest at Milimani Law Courts to inquire into the mysterious death of the late Jeff Mwathi.
The inquiry was lodged in court after investigators failed to get evidence directly linking anybody to the death of Mwathi who died in unclear circumstances on February 23, 2023, at DJ Fatxo's Kasarani, Nairobi apartment.
Appearing before Magistrate Zainabu Abdul the DPP told the court that they will be calling a total of 35 witnesses to testify in Mwathi’s inquest.
Magistrate Abdul, who was appointed to hear the inquest fled by Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina, directed the lead investigating officer Clement Mwangi to serve all parties with the witness statements that will be used in the inquest before the hearing date.
The court was however informed that Mwathi’s family has appointed lawyer Danstan Omari to represent them while Lawrence Njuguna aka DJ Fatxo is represented by Lawyer Duncan Okatch.
Further, officer Mwangi revealed that the families of Christopher Wangombe and Geoffrey Wanyiki who are persons of interest in the case are also in the process of getting advocates to represent them in the inquest.
The victim's family including the late Jeff’s mother Anne Mwathi and other relatives who were present in court through Lawyer Omari informed the court they did not know why they were in court because the DPP did not serve them with the letter recommending the inquest.
“We are lost why we are here because my client was not supplied with the letter for the inquest,” Omari stated.
The magistrate however fixed the hearing of the inquest to kick off on August 10 when the first witness will take to the stand.
The move to ask the court to open an inquest into Mwathi's death comes after the DPP on May 17, 2023, failed to recommend criminal charges against any individual adversely mention in the probe by DCI detectives.
Mwathi, 23, died on February 22, 2023, in unclear circumstances.
Initial police reports cited suicide after the youthful interior designer allegedly jumped to his death from a friend's house on the 10th floor of an apartment in Kasarani, Nairobi.
His family disputed this finding prompting Interior CS Kithure Kindiki to order homicide detectives from the DCI to take over the case and establish the true circumstances under which Mwathi died.
The body was on March 31 exhumed and a fresh autopsy was conducted at the grave site at Mwathi's parents' home in Likia, Nakuru County.
Police sought orders for the exhumation after preliminary forensic investigations ruled out suicide as the cause of death.
Detectives wanted to also establish whether Jeff was sexually assaulted before he died.
During the probe, police also visited the room where the deceased is alleged to have jumped from his window.
Upon interrogation, it is said that Mugithi musician Lawrence Njuguna alias DJ Fatxo admitted that Jeff was in his house the day he died.
All five persons who were at DJ Fatxo’s house when the incident happened were grilled and are now listed as witnesses in the inquest filed in court.
