The death of Naomi Chebet has left her family shattered, and her brother, Harrison Koech, will never forget the night he unknowingly spent under the same roof with her lifeless body — thinking she was simply asleep.
In an emotional and deeply painful recollection, Harrison shared with TUKO.co.ke how he returned home from work late that night, only to wake up to a nightmare that would forever change his life.
“I got home at around midnight, going to 1 am. I found my sister lying on the couch. I thought she was probably just tired from work and had decided to rest while waiting for her husband,” Harrison narrated, his voice trembling with the weight of regret.
Like any other day, he didn’t suspect anything was wrong. He didn’t wake her. He didn’t ask questions. He just let her rest. What he didn’t know was that Naomi was already gone.
The following morning — a Sunday — Harrison noticed something odd. Naomi was still on the couch, still in the same position. Her husband was still not home. And she hadn’t moved an inch.
“I wondered if she hadn’t gotten tired of the same position or even decided to turn… I just decided to get ready for church before waking her up,” he recounted.
But as he got closer, something felt off. She didn’t respond to his voice. He shook her gently. Still no response. Then, in a chilling moment that still haunts him, he pulled back the blanket and saw bruises on her body.
“She was cold to the touch. I checked for a heartbeat, but there was none. She was gone.”
Overwhelmed by shock and fear, he called a neighbour — one of Naomi’s closest friends — to help confirm the worst. Together, they realized that Naomi, a young mother of three, had been taken from them in the most tragic way.
Harrison quickly reported the incident to the Kangemi Police Station, and from there, the case was handed over to Kabuku Police Station for further investigations. Naomi’s body was taken to Chiromo Mortuary, but the pain of her loss remains raw and unresolved.
As of now, her husband — the man she once loved deeply — is missing and being sought by the authorities in connection with her death.
A Love That Couldn’t Let Go
Naomi’s father, Philip Koech Kipchumba, is also mourning — not just the loss of his daughter, but the slow and painful way in which he saw her suffer in silence. He and his wife had tried multiple times to separate Naomi from her allegedly abusive husband. They’d advised, pleaded, and even celebrated brief moments when the two were apart.
“We warned her. We tried to keep them apart after one too many fights,” Kipchumba shared with quiet sorrow. “But her love for him… it was too strong. She kept going back.”
That love, unfortunately, may have cost her everything.
A Family in Grief, A Community in Shock
The tragedy has shaken the local community in Kiambu and beyond, drawing attention once again to the silent plague of domestic violence that continues to claim the lives of women across the country.
Naomi’s story is a heartbreaking reminder that behind closed doors, many women are living in fear — and sometimes, love is not enough to save them.
Her three children are now left without a mother. Her parents, without a daughter. And Harrison, without a sister he didn’t know he had already lost the night before.
“I still see her there, lying on the couch. I wish I had checked. I wish I had said something. Maybe things would be different,” Harrison whispered, holding back tears.
As the search for Naomi’s husband continues, her family is left praying for justice, hoping that her death will not be in vain — and that no other woman will have to suffer in silence like she did.
