Autopsy shows shot mask hawker suffered severe brain damage

Mask vendor Boniface Kariuki died from a head injury caused by a bullet, with at least four fragments discovered embedded in his brain, a postmortem on his body showed.

Government pathologist Dr Peter Ndegwa made the revelations of the autopsy Thursday after conducting the exercise on the body of Kariuki at the Kenyatta National Hospital Funeral Home.

“We concluded that he died due to a severe head injury. The brain was extensively damaged. We found four small bullet fragments, possibly rubber, lodged deep in the brain tissue,” said Dr Ndegwa.

He said the fragments were likely missed during initial surgery due to their size and inaccessibility.

“The chances of survival were minimal and there was a lot of bleeding,” Dr Ndegwa added.

The report was compiled with the help of government pathologist Bernard Midia and showed Kariuki had four bullet fragments in his brain.

This was in addition to two bullet fragments which doctors managed to take out while he was still alive.

The report also confirmed the authenticity of the video showing a police officer firing a single shot that struck the late Kariuki in the head, noting that he was shot at close range and the bullet caused fatal head trauma.

Detectives from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) were also present at the autopsy and are expected to submit their final findings to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The family now plans to move Kariuki’s body to Kenyatta University Funeral Home along Thika Road ahead of his burial scheduled for July 11 in Kangema, Murang’a County.

The incident has caused a national outrage.

Family spokesperson Emily Wanjira said they are shocked with the discovery of additional fragments.

“It is a shock to us that there were more fragments. We knew two had been removed earlier and now there are four more,” she said.

Wanjira said the family had earlier attended a court session at Milimani Law Courts but the case was postponed to next week to allow for further investigations.

She appealed to Kenyans for financial support to help settle medical and funeral bills.

“We will bury him and deal with the case later. The case has now been reclassified as murder. That is where we are so far,” she said.

Kariuki was confirmed dead on Monday, June 30 by his father Jonah, who said the hawker died at around 3:15 pm. His death followed weeks of treatment in the wake of the shooting incident.

Before his death, Kariuki’s sister revealed that Kariuki had been declared brain dead after spending more than a week in intensive care.

President William Ruto has donated Sh1 million to Kariuki’s family.

The donation was presented to the family by Kangema MP, Peter Irungu Kihungi.

The two police officers linked to the shooting appeared in court on Thursday, June 5, but the hearing was adjourned for seven days to allow for the amendment of charges from grievous harm to murder.