NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 15 — Detectives in Nairobi have opened a probe on the mysterious death of 46-year old woman along Kaunda Street on Monday.
The victim, a junior staff at the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF), was thought to have died of natural causes by police and witnesses at the scene.
However, a pathologist examination on Mary Gathenya’s body discovered a bullet lodged in her lungs, leading to a homicide investigation.
Police said the new findings pointed to the possibility of the bullet having been fired from an elevated angle.
It is believed to have gone into the victim’s body through the collar borne before stopping in the lungs.
Witnesses and police said the victim complained of chest pains moments before she collapsed at around 5pm on Monday.
The victim’s colleagues called an ambulance which arrived in time but the responders declared her dead at the scene.
She had walked from her place of work in Upper Hill and was headed home when the incident happened.
The body was moved from Nairobi Hospital to Kenyatta University mortuary where the post mortem was conducted by a group of pathologists who concluded the death was as a result of shooting.
Nairobi Regional Police Commander Adamson Bungei said the bullet head was handed to ballistic experts for analysis.
He said they are yet know how and why the bullet was fired and by who.
Detectives will be seeking to understand whether her death was targeted or whether she fell victim to a stray bullet that could have been fired from the point of origin.
