Kiamaiko family demands justice after 21-year KMTC student killed by police

A family in Huruma, Nairobi, is mourning the tragic death of 21-year-old Cheryl Adhiambo, who was fatally shot on Saturday evening during an altercation between police officers and youth.

Adhiambo was allegedly struck by a bullet fired by a police officer attached to Huruma Police Station.

Adhiambo, a first-year student pursuing Emergency Care at the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), Mathari Teaching and Referral Hospital campus, was helping run her mother’s fish business in Kiamaiko when the shooting occurred.

According to eyewitnesses, chaos erupted after police officers attempted to arrest two young men.

The two were in a group that resisted the arrest, leading to a confrontation that quickly escalated.

It was in the heat of that standoff that Adhiambo lost her life.

Evalyne Achieng, a friend and fellow trader who witnessed the incident, said Adhiambo had already opened the business when she arrived that evening.

“I also do business at the place where Adhiambo and her mum do theirs. I had just arrived and found Cheryl already open and going on with the business,” Achieng said.

She said three police officers approached young men seated nearby and arrested two of them.

“That is when the skirmishes began. When they shot the first one, it almost hit me. I was with my child, so I ran inside and locked us in. A few minutes later, we saw the back and forth on the road. When they removed their car, I went outside and found people surrounding Adhiambo’s workplace. She had already died,” said Achieng.

She said that the police shot from close to where the deceased was.

Carolyn Achieng, the mother of Adhiambo, said she was in Migori County on a school visit when she received a call shortly before 8 pm informing her that her daughter had been shot.

“I was called yesterday at around 7:50 pm by a friend who informed me that my daughter had lost her life after being shot by a police officer called Abdi. I can confirm that she is no more, lying at the mortuary with a gunshot wound that entered the head just beside the eye and exited through the other side, with blood all over,” she said.

She also visited the scene where her daughter was shot.

“I have gone to where she was shot and found blood all over. Now I wonder, what did my child steal? Or who did she steal from or kill?” she said.

She pleaded with the government to ensure justice is served, noting that Adhiambo was all the hope she had for the future, which is now finished.

Carolyn said Adhiambo was not only her daughter but also her business partner, often helping sell fish to raise money for school expenses.

“She used to tell me to let her help me with the business so that she could get bus fare to school and lunch. She was so helpful and very hardworking,” the mother said.

According to the mother, she had called her just minutes before her death.

“She called me at around 7:40 pm to confirm whether I had received a payment on my M-Pesa made by a customer. Then something like 10 minutes later, I was called and told she had died,” said Carolyn.

The sisters of Adhiambo said the family was initially blocked from accessing information about what happened.

“We were called that she had died. When we rushed there, we were told there was back and forth between the youth and the police. She was shot seated still inside where we normally do business,” said Sylvia.

She also alleged that police refused to share details or record the family’s statements.

“The police wrote a statement, and when we asked to see it, they refused, asking why we wanted to see it and that it was against the law. They also refused to take our statement,” she said.

“At first, they refused, and we didn’t even see the body until we insisted. That is when they allowed us to see her. They even refused us to write our own statement,” added Diana, also a sister.

Diana described her sister as a central pillar of the family.

“She was a trusted person to my mother since she was young. She helped my mum run the business. She was very jovial, loved by many, and that is why people got so angry when she was killed. She didn’t discriminate. She loved everyone and talked to all,” she said.

Sources familiar with the incident said officers were pursuing a notorious suspect who had allegedly escaped custody days earlier.

The police reportedly believed he was hiding in the area and were arresting young men thought to have information on his whereabouts.

Hussein Khalid, Executive Director of Vocal Africa, visited Huruma Police Station alongside Adhiambo’s family on Sunday, but he claimed that the police blocked efforts to formally record the incident before agreeing later on.

“According to those who saw what happened, she was minding her business, going on with her work. The altercation that was going on, she had no business in it, but still she was shot, and she died,” said Khalid.

He accused officers of returning to the community to disperse residents using tear gas.

“Instead of doing what is required of them, including arresting the officer who is well known, what they are doing is going back to the community provoking people, teargassing, and all that kind of stuff,” he said.

“We are demanding justice for Cheryl. It is a must that the police officer, whom locals say they know is the shooter, be arrested immediately and justice be served.”

The residents of the area engaged the police when the incident happened, protesting the death of Adhiambo, and in the process, two buses were burnt on Saturday evening.

For the better part of Sunday, the police were engaging the rowdy youth, using teargas canisters to disperse the young men.