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Police arrest Hillcrest School head teacher's widower

Gabrielle Maina

Gabrielle Maina, a headmistress of Hillcrest School, was shot dead in Karen on October 19, 2017. PHOTO | COURTESY

Police in Karen have arrested Cyrus Maina, the widower of slain Hillcrest Preparatory School Headmistress Gabrielle Maina.

Mr Maina was arrested on Monday evening at the Karen Police Station, where he had gone to follow up on the investigations into the Thursday morning murder.

Karen OCPD Cunningham Suiyanka on Tuesday morning confirmed that Mr Maina spent the night at the Karen police cells, but did not give details of his arrest.

Earlier, before his arrest, Mr Maina had been at the Lee Funeral Home to oversee the post-mortem.

Mr Maina, with whom Gabrielle has two children, was accompanied by his friends and family. After the autopsy report was released, they moved to Karen Police Station.

The autopsy conducted by Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor showed that the bullet punctured her lung, causing it to collapse.

Close range

Mrs Maina was shot at around 10.30am as she returned to her home after dropping off her son at a friend’s home.

Mr Oduor said the bullet was discharged at close range and it entered through the left side of her neck and exited through the right side of her back.

“The single shot punctured her lung and caused a lot of internal bleeding. Both her lungs collapsed,” Dr Oduor said at the Lee Funeral Home, where the body of the teacher is being preserved.

A detective privy to the investigations into the daylight murder said the police were pursuing leads that would help in the arrest of the killers, who used a motorcycle. Her killers took her phone and purse.

Mrs Maina’s body is scheduled for cremation on Wednesday at the Lang’ata Crematorium.