Family of woman shot 16 times by cop husband speaks

 

Family members of the late Maureen Moraa Kiriago remove the body from Migori County Referral Mortuary on February 22, 2022. [Caleb Kingwara, Standard]

The family of the woman who was shot 16 times by her husband before he turned the gun on himself, has revealed the couple had marital problems.

Maureen Moraa's father, Kennedy Kiriago, said the deceased had complained about her husband, Antony Mwangi, on a number of occasions but they managed to settle their differences.

"We don't understand what happened but all in all we have to accept that my daughter is no more," Mr. Kiriago said. 

The family was speaking from Migori County Referral hospital's morgue where they had gone to take their daughter's body ahead of the burial at their home in Nyamira County.

Moraa's family said she would not be buried alongside her husband on grounds that her husband had not paid her dowry. In addition, the family also took the couple's two-year-old daughter.

"We have nothing against them. What has happened has happened. But we want the child to stay with us," Kiriago stated.

Mwangi is said to have shot his wife 16 times before he turned the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide.

County Police Commander Mark Wanjala said investigations into the matter have been launched.

Mwangi, 29, is said to have been on night duty at Migori Police Station on Saturday when he requested to go home, saying he was unwell.

He headed to his rental home at Kawa Junction, Suna East Sub-County, where he lived with his wife.

The police boss noted that Mwangi did not hand over the AK47 he was using while on duty.

“The late officer had booked off duty at report office at 11pm and proceeded to the house without handing back his firearm,” Wanjala stated.

Reports indicated that Mwangi and his wife got into an argument in the middle of the night, something neighbours noted was unusual as they lived peacefully.

The argument was followed by gunshots at around 1:40am.

Mwangi opened fire at his wife who was trying to run outside their house for safety.

She had opened the door and was about to close it when shots were fired at her and she fell down.

Mwangi then moved a few meters away and stood in front of his first neighbour’s door. There, he shot himself on the chin, blowing off his head.

After silence resumed, a neighbour who heard the couple's daughter crying went to check on her.

"We have never witnessed such a thing," a neighbour who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

Mwangi is said to have been living alone at the rental house until his wife joined him a month ago.

Wanjala noted that Mwangi fired 17 bullets, with 16 rapturing his wife's body.

"The subject rifle was found at the scene with a magazine containing 13 rounds of ammunition while 17 spent cartridges were also recovered," Wanjala said.

When police arrived at the scene at dawn on February 20, they found the lifeless body of the policeman and his wife lying on a pool of blood outside their rental house.

In April last year, a GSU officer killed his wife and later turned the gun on himself over infidelity claims.

Through the incident, the officer ended their seven years relationship and left two children orphaned.

In December 2021, another police officer shot his wife in the neck before going on a shooting spree.

The officer killed five people before shooting himself with an AK47 rifle in Kabete, Nairobi.

Cases of police killings have been on the rise with a finger being pointed at depression and mental health issues.

Currently, police are putting efforts into reconciling the two families who at first refused to talk to each other.