Nakuru court update: Teen pleads guilty to murder, Baby Mercy case proceeds to plea taking
Lizz Njeri Mwangi takes plea in Nakuru court on July 29, 2025.
Nakuru courts came to life this week with two highly publicized cases marking significant progress.
In the first case where a teen was arrested for allegedly murdering a toddler, the accused Lizz Njeri Mwangi took to the stand and pleaded guilty to the murder of three-year-old.
The prosecution told the court how Njeri strangled the baby to death.
CCTV footage that was presented in court as evidence showed a teenager wearing a red trench coat and grey trousers, leave the church gate, followed closely by a young girl.
The teenager was later identified as Njeri.
About 50 meters from the gate and after ensuring that nobody was watching her, Njeri strangled the girl using a scarf the toddler was wearing. She left her unresponsive on the road and went back to the church.
Following the plea, the court convicted Njeri on a plea of own guilt. Earlier, the court heard that after age assessment, Njeri was found to be 18 years old and not 17 as earlier stated.
“The accused herein agrees to then facts of the offense as read by the prosecutor and therefore the court convicts her on a plea of her own guilt,” ruled Justice Julius Nangea.
The convict will be produced before the court on September 16 for mitigation hearing (presenting evidence and arguments to the judge that aim to lessen the severity of a defendant’s sentence, even if they have been found guilty).
In the second case, the family of Baby Mercy Chepng’eno continue in their pursuit for justice.
Last week, the prosecutor admitted to the court that the matter had been wrongfully registered as an inquest, yet it was already a criminal matter.
The matter came up for a mention today where Senior Resident Magistrate, Emmanuel Soita directed that the matter be mentioned tomorrow (Thursday) for plea taking before the plea court.
“A criminal file will be opened and the two suspects will take plea and after taking plea then we can have the inquest file closed,” said the magistrate.
Michael Nderitu the chief mortician and Mary Muthoni both of whom work at the Nakuru County Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue are the suspects who were arrested in connection to the mysterious disappearance of Baby Mercy.