A Kenyan national is facing charges for allegedly poisoning ex-girlfriend’s child in Canada.
Francis Ngugi, 45, was apprehended on Sunday and was later charged with two counts of administering a noxious substance to endanger life.
He is also facing two separate counts of unlawfully causing bodily harm and one count of criminal negligence causing death.
One of the children who died was three-year-old Bernice Nantanda Wamala. She was sleeping over at a friend’s home in March when she and her friend consumed the poison-laced cereal.
According to Wamala’s mother, Maurine Mitembe, the cereal gave the two a form of reaction which eventually led to vomiting and a visit to the doctor.
The deceased was treated but after sometime of life support, she succumbed. Her friend survived, Ms Mitembe told CTV News.
Read: Authorities Launch Search For Kenyan Keegan Oyugi Who Went Missing In Minessota
“She was healthy, happy, and dancing on Saturday, then the next day she’s gone,” Mirembe told the Toronto Sun.
The suspect is according to Toronto Sun, the ex-boyfriend of the surviving toddler’s mother. The two apparently ended things the month before the said incident but remained friends.
Police say that Ngugi laced the Golden Morn cereal with a controlled substance he retrieved from his place of work .
“Both children required hospitalization. One of the children, due to the consumption of the cereal, died in hospital. The other child recovered after a lengthy hospital stay,” Detective Matthew Wighton of 41 Division said in a statement on Monday.
A probe into the incident by the police and Ontario Coroner’s Office wound up with Ngugi’s arrest after it was established that the cereal was deliberately contaminated.
Ngugi is still in custody awaiting a bail hearing.
A GoFundMe page started to help raise money for Wamala’s funeral has so far amassed more than Sh2 million.
Email your news TIPS to Editor@kahawatungu.com or WhatsApp +254707482874. You can also find us on Telegram through www.t.me/kahawatungu
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
