Police officers in Kisumu have arrested a suspect in the murder of five family members.
Shem Akuku Atieno was detained at the Chemelil police station on Sunday evening and awaits his arraignment.
According to police officers who are aware of the incident, he attempted suicide before being arrested on Sunday.
What had begun as a regular weekend took a gloomy turn at 8 p.m. on Saturday when neighbors were alerted to one of the suspect's children's constant sobbing.
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Monica Atieno, a neighbor, described the unsettling scene:
"Niliskia tu kama mtoto alikuwa analia sasa nikauliza huyo bro wangu ni kwa nini unachapa mtoto hakuniongelesha sasa niakimbia niende nione ni kwa nini mtoto analia kufika hapo nikapata mtoto ameshakufa sasa sikujua ati kumbe pia bibi yake alikuwa hapo ndani kujaribu kumuita ndio kuna mtoto mwingine alikuja akaniambia ati ata bibi yake ashamuua ako hapo ndani,"
The man is accused of killing his wife and son in the Saturday incident.
Armed with a machete, he allegedly went to the next house and viciously beat his 78-year-old uncle before turning the weapon on his 58-year-old aunt, Mary Otieno, killing her on the spot.
According to reports, he fled the scene and entered a neighboring sugarcane plantation.
The motive for the killings is unknown, which has shocked the family and neighborhood because the suspect has never shown violent inclinations before.
