Bomet man jailed 5 years for killing brother after quarrel

A Bomet man has been sentenced to five years in prison for stabbing his brother to death following a quarrel over phone battery.

The lenient sentence was handed down on Leonard Kipngetich Kerich following a plea-bargain with the state. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges after having initially pleaded not guilty to a murder charge.

Kerich had fought with his brother Shadrack Kiprono Tuwei after a disagreement at their home in Njorwet village in Sotick subcounty on December 21, 2024.

Tuwei sustained fatal injuries following a stab in the chest with a kitchen knife. The accused took plea on January 20, 2025 where he pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder.

“A plea-bargaining agreement was filed on July 29, 2025 and it indicated that the accused had agreed to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. This court accepted the plea agreement after interviewing the accused and satisfying itself that he executed the plea agreement voluntarily and that he understood his trial rights," Justice Julius Ng'arng'ar said.

The court weighed the gravity of the loss of life against the recommendations for leniency from the local community and the victim’s own family. 

A pre-sentence probation report indicated that the family had already sought forgiveness through clan elders and reached an amicable solution. 

The prosecution and the investigation team also accepted that the accused was remorseful and that the act was the result of a sudden quarrel rather than premeditated malice.

But despite the family’s request for a non-custodial sentence, Justice Ng’arng’ar maintained that the avoidable nature of the death required a period of incarceration.

The court noted that while the accused had no previous criminal record, the seriousness of the offence crossed the threshold for immediate custody.

"In the absence of aggravating circumstances, or any other circumstance that renders a non-custodial sentence unsuitable, a sentence of imprisonment should be avoided with respect to sentences that have been adjudged as deserving less than three years," the judge said. 

The court concluded that life was lost in a manner deemed an overreaction. “It is my finding that this was not a suitable case for grant of a non-custodial sentence,” the judge ruled.

Kerich's five-year sentence was backdated to January 20, 2025, when the he first took his plea.