A cloud of grief has engulfed a family in Trans Nzoia County after a 35-year-old married woman was brutally killed in what relatives describe as a tragedy that could have been prevented.
The shocking incident unfolded in Kibomet, on the outskirts of Kitale Town, where Sally Sitawa Saenyi lost her life after an alleged attack by a man who had reportedly been pursuing her despite knowing she was married.
According to family members, the suspect, identified as Patrick Silali Barasa, popularly known as Jeff, had been relentlessly pressuring Sally to enter into a romantic relationship with him. His advances, however, were repeatedly rejected.
Sally’s father, Justus Saenyi, revealed that his daughter had lived in fear for days before her death. He said the suspect had allegedly threatened to kill her if she continued refusing his demands.
“My daughter told me that Jeff had warned her that he would kill her if she refused to become his lover,” Saenyi said. “She even reported the threats to the Naisambu Police Post after he allegedly told her that the knife he intended to use was already prepared.”
The grieving father claims that despite the seriousness of the threats, no action was taken.
“Had the officers treated the matter with the urgency it deserved, my daughter could still be alive today,” he lamented.
What followed was a horrifying turn of events.
Reports indicate that the suspect travelled from Nairobi, where he worked as a taxi driver, and went straight to Sally’s home in Kibomet. There, tragedy struck. The woman was allegedly stabbed three times—twice in the neck and once in the back—in an attack that left neighbours horrified.
Residents rushed to her aid and transported her to Cherang’any Nursing Home in a desperate bid to save her life. Sadly, medical personnel pronounced her dead on arrival.
Her body was later transferred to the Wamalwa Kijana Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary, where it awaits a postmortem examination.
As the family struggles to come to terms with the devastating loss, they are demanding justice and accountability.
“We want justice for our daughter,” said Saenyi. “We also want police officers to take reports of threats seriously. No family should have to bury a loved one because warnings were ignored.”
The tragedy took another dramatic twist when the prime suspect was later found dead.
Police had launched a manhunt immediately after the killing, searching for the suspect across the region. However, before officers could arrest him, reports emerged that a man had been discovered lifeless in a lodging in Moi’s Bridge Township, several kilometres from the crime scene.
Kiminini Sub-County Police Commander John Onditi confirmed the development.
“While we were still searching for him, we received information that a man had been found dead in Moi’s Bridge. Our officers proceeded to the scene and established that the deceased was the suspect we had been pursuing,” Onditi said.
The circumstances surrounding the suspect’s death remain under investigation.
As detectives piece together the final moments leading to the double tragedy, residents of Kibomet and the wider Kitale area remain stunned by a case that has left one family mourning a daughter, wife, and mother, while raising painful questions about the handling of threats reported before a life is lost.
For Sally’s family, however, the heartbreak is immeasurable. What began as unwanted advances ended in bloodshed, leaving behind a haunting reminder of how quickly obsession can turn deadly.
