Omar Lali wants Senator Tabitha Karanja summoned to court in daughter’s death inquest

By , K24 Digital
On Thu, 13 Jul, 2023 21:38 | 3 mins read
Omar Lali wants Senator Tabitha Karanja summoned to court in daughter's death inquest
Lamu-based boat operator Omar Lali. PHOTO/Nancy Gitonga

The former boyfriend of Keroche heiress now wants Nakuru Senator Tabitha Karanja compelled to attend court to tender evidence for adversely mentioning him over the death of her daughter Tecra Muigai.

Omar Lali, through his lawyer on Thursday, July 13, 2023, urged Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul to summon the senator, her son James, her late daughter's personal security detail Erick Cheruiyot, Andrew Waithera and an Italian witness for cross-examination for mentioning him adversely in the matter.

The magistrate granted the state until July 25 to confirm the availability of the intended five witnesses to testify in the inquest.

The new development comes after the investigating officer Corporal Fredrick Odemba informed the inquest that there were glaring discrepancies in a report lodged by Omari in his state over the death of Tecra in April 2020.

While highlighting the inconsistencies, the officer said Omar told him that on the fateful night they drank to their fill and then went to sleep leaving Tecra in the sitting room

He said on further interrogation, Omar told the police he was awoken from his deep sleep by a thud emanating from the fall of Tecra.

"We interrogated Omar at the scene with aim of knowing what happened, he told us that on the evening of 22 April 2020 after taking supper, they embarked on drinking and that in the middle of the night in his word, he chewed blackout and slept leaving Tecra at the table only for him to be woken up by a thunder like fall and a scream at the stairs", Odemba told court.

The officer added that Omar reported that after hearing the loud bang he rushed towards the sitting room and found it was Tecra who had fallen and gave her first aid before calling neighbours to help him take her to King Fahad Hospital in Lamu.

The officer stated that following the inconsistent statement of Omar they embarked on knowing who he was. The inquest heard during the investigations the police established that at one point Tecra had feared for her life and called her parents to organize for her security.

"According to my investigations towards the tail end l noted that Tecra had formed her mind to leave Omar and she had also feared for her security which made her call for security from Nairobi," Odemba stated.

He further narrated that at the time he and other officers got to the crime scene, Omar had been arrested and was already in the cells.

"We went to the cell to pick Omar up so that we can proceed to the crime scene together, he took us through the house which was a two-floor building. On the ground floor there was a swimming pool, on the first floor was the main bedroom and two other bedrooms, and on the second floor had a kitchen, dining hall, a sitting room and a library. There was a rooftop which had a treestand", he said.

The investigating officer said in the same place, they were taken through by a housekeeper and the manager.

The court heard that Omar explained to the officers that on the evening of April 22, 2020, he had planned a house party and some arrangements had been made for drinks. The housekeeper procured for them coconut juice, he had also prepared for them some passion fruit juice then he left.

"The following day April 23, 2020 one Geoffrey Mario, the caretaker of the house came to clean the house. He opened the door and started cleaning from the ground floor, when he moved to where the bedroom was, he noticed that the door of the main bedroom was open, nobody was in the room and the bed looked disturbed," the officer stated

The caretaker informed us that he proceeded to the second floor and found nobody in the room, he tried calling Tecra"s phone and it went unanswered.

"Mario also called Omar and it was off air, as he kept calling he noticed a phone beefing on the bed but he did not pick it. He went downstairs and noticed some watery-like fluid in the bedroom, down the staircase were some blood spots, he got worried, and continued calling Omar who was off air and he didn't get him", the officer told the court.

In the dining room, Odemba said the caretaker noticed some used glasses. There were fallen leaves of miraa both on the floor and table.

Mario got worried and rushed to the house of the manager to report what he had found at the house of the two love birds.

The caretaker briefed the investigating team that as they were still there, Omar called the manager and reported that they had a small accident in the house and that at that particular time, they were in hospital where Tecra was being attended to.

"Mario further told us that Omar told them they should not be worried and they should continue cleaning the house."

Officer Odemba was testifying in the death inquest of Tecra who died in 2020 after allegedly falling in a holiday home in Lamu.

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