Beatrice Mwende: Naivasha teacher who killed her 4 children jailed for life

Beatrice Mwende had blamed demonic possession on her actions. [File, Standard]

Beatrice Mwende, the Naivasha-based Mathematics teacher who killed her four children in June 2020, will serve life in jail for the murders.

Naivasha High Court Judge Grace Nzioka dismissed Mwende's defense that she was possessed by demons when she killed her three daughters and a son.

The 44-year-old convict had earlier denied the charges, but later, in 2022, confessed to killing her children. She said she changed her mind after consulting her lawyer.

The victims were Melody Warigia (8 years old), Willy Macharia (6 years old), Samantha Njeri (4 years old) and Whitney Nyambura (2 years old).

Mwende strangled the four at her Kabati Estate home in Naivasha on June 26, 2020.

Justice Nzioka, while delivering the ruling virtually on Thursday, March 2, said mental tests conducted on Mwende indicated that she was of sound mind when she committed the offences.

The convict had told the court that on the date that she killed her children, she had been "possessed by evil spirits".

"Her excuse that she was possessed by some evil spirits when she committed the act, cannot be authenticated in court. She is, therefore, sentenced to life imprisonment," ruled Justice Grace Nzioka.

The judge said Mwende's crime attracts a life sentence for each of the four murders.

However, Justice Nzioka stated that since the first count had already condemned her to life in jail, she'll spend time behind bars under the first sentencing.

Surprisingly, Mwende was smiling during the ruling.

She has 14 days to file an appeal against the judgement.

Prosecutor Nelly Maingi had told the court that on June 26, 2020, Mwende started by strangling her youngest child, 2-year-old Whitney Nyambura, before proceeding to murder the remaining three.

She, thereafter, slept in the same house and fled the following morning (June 27, 2020).

That morning, she called her relatives and informed them that she had killed her children, and was seeking their (relatives') forgiveness.

The prosecution told the court that Mwende was arrested later June 27, 2020 at a lodging in Kayole Estate, Naivasha Sub-County.

"The post-mortem report indicated that the minors died as a result of strangulation," prosecutor Nelly Maingi told the court.