Suspect in Nyeri girl murder wants to plead guilty again

The prime suspect in the murder of a seven-year-old girl in Witemere slum in Nyeri on Thursday asked the High Court to change his plea for the second time.

Hearing of the case had been set to begin on Thursday with the prosecution having lined up two witnesses.

But through his lawyer, Mahugu Mbarire, the accused, Nicholas Julius Macharia, asked the court to read him the charges afresh.

“In readiness for the hearing, I had conferred with my client and we are requesting for the information to be read again because he is intending to change his plea,” Mbarire said.

Macharia is accused of committing the offence of murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code.

According to the charge sheet, he is accused of killing Tamara Blessing Kabura on May 24, 2025.

Macharia first appeared before Justice Magare Kizito on June 12 last year, where he pleaded guilty.

However, despite entering the guilty plea and a mental assessment report from Murang’a Level V Hospital confirming that he was mentally fit to stand trial, the court did not record his first plea.

Instead, the judge directed that Macharia be remanded for 46 days to allow him to reflect, after which he would be presented in court again to take the plea afresh.

At the time, the judge said that he needed to be certain that Macharia understood the legal implications of pleading guilty to the offence.

“The accused has pleaded guilty to the charge. The sentence for the plea is that this court will sentence him to death. But before the court proceeds to sentencing, he will be given some time in prison remand to reflect,” Justice Kizito said.

When he was presented in court for the second time on July 29, 2025, Macharia changed his plea, entering a plea of not guilty.

That meant the case was to go to a full trial which was to commence on Thursday.

After Macharia’s oral application for the charges to be read afresh, the court pushed the matter to February 9.

The judge also granted state prosecutor Mr Kihara seven days to acquaint himself with the matter after he informed the court that he was handling the case for the first time.

The matter will proceed on February 9 for reading of the facts of the case for Macharia’s fresh plea. Parties were directed to submit their sentencing submissions should the accused plead guilty.

Speaking to journalists after the court proceedings, the father of the deceased, Kelvin Mutahi, expressed optimism that the case was nearing its conclusion.

“It has been a long and painful journey and now that the matter is nearing its conclusion we are hoping for justice to be dispensed so that we can continue with the healing process. We are hoping that justice will be served to us all,” Nyaga said.