Police have arrested a Kenyan woman identified as Linet Munala for killing her three children in a premeditated act following a domestic dispute.
The bodies of the children, one-year-old twin girls and their 4-year-old brother, were discovered inside a single-room house at Neema Plaza in Mlolongo Phase III, Machakos County on Monday, January 26, 2026.
The twins lay in one bed, while their brother was found in another bed.
The state of the apartment spelled chaos, ranging from scattered food, kids’ stationery, uniforms, and clothes strewn all over.
It is alleged that the poison, some of which was still on the table, had been mixed into the porridge that was given to the children.
According to neighbours, the children were poisoned after their parents had a violent dispute over the weekend.
The mother was later traced and arrested while escaping. She is being held at Mlolongo police station as DCI officers investigate.
According to a police report, the incident occurred on the night of January 25 or the early hours of January 26.
The matter was reported at around 1pm on Monday by the caretaker of the residential building after she was alerted by a disturbing text message sent by the suspect after she left the house.
“The suspect’s three children were found lying dead inside the house with foam emanating from their mouths,” the police report read.
It is suspected the children were poisoned using a mixture of vim detergent.
The scene was documented, samples were collected, and the bodies were removed to the City Mortuary, where post-mortem examinations are expected to establish the exact cause of d3ath.
The suspect sent a cryptic message to her neighbour, asking her to go to the house in the company of the caretaker.
“She wrote a message to her neighbour directing that we go and see what had happened in her house,” the caretaker, Rose Anai, told The Standard.
Alarmed, the caretaker mobilised other tenants and headed to the house.
“When we arrived, the door was wide open. I entered first and checked on one child. I immediately realised the child had passed on. That is when I called the police,” she said.
The neighbour who received the message said, “When I went to the house, she told me that her husband’s friend called and told her that he was running late in Nairobi, and she started saying that her husband was cheating on her.”
Another neighbour attributed the deaths to the woman not sharing what was happening in the marriage with other people and a lot of misunderstandings.
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