A Sh10 lure and a silent home: Inside Shantel Waruguru’s killing

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She was nine years old. Too young to understand danger.

Too trusting to imagine that a neighbour would turn her quiet home into the scene of her final moments.

On Tuesday, February 10, villagers in Kianjathi, Mathira West, stood frozen as detectives retrieved the lifeless body of Shantel Waruguru Kagema from a pit latrine—bringing to a painful end a two-day search that had shaken the village and shattered a family.

Detectives from Mathira West said the child had gone missing on Sunday morning, February 8, after her parents left home at around 8am, leaving her in the care of her four-year-old sister.

“When the parents returned home in the evening, one child was present. Shantel was nowhere to be found,” police said in a recorded statement.

What followed was panic, confusion, and a desperate search.
Neighbours joined the family in combing nearby homesteads and abandoned houses as word spread that a child was missing.

It was during that search that officers made a discovery that drained hope from the air.

Inside an abandoned house nearby, detectives found a pair of undergarments and shoes placed on an old blue mattress.

“Shantel’s mother positively identified the items as belonging to her daughter,” police said.

Crime Scene Investigators documented the scene and collected the items as exhibits. By then, fear had turned into dread.

According to investigators, intelligence gathered from the area quickly narrowed in on Peter Njuguna, a man living nearby.

He was arrested and questioned.
What he led detectives to next left even seasoned officers shaken.

“Upon interrogation, the suspect led officers to his homestead where the body of the child had been concealed in a pit latrine,” police said.

With the help of members of the public, Shantel’s body was retrieved on Tuesday and taken to the mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Detectives say preliminary findings indicate that the crime was carefully calculated.

“On the material day, the suspect allegedly lured the four-year-old sister with Sh10 and sent her to buy sweets,” police said.

“This left Shantel alone in the house.”

By the time the younger child returned, the house was silent.

The suspect was presented in court on Tuesday, where detectives obtained a 21-day custodial order to allow for comprehensive investigations.

As the legal process unfolds, grief hangs heavily over Kianjathi village. A home that once echoed with children’s voices is now marked by silence, unanswered questions, and unbearable loss.

“This is a deeply disturbing case,” police said.

“It is a painful reminder of the vulnerability of children and the responsibility we all share to protect them.”

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations said the case will be pursued to its logical conclusion.

“This crime is not just against one family,” police said.

“It is an assault on the conscience of the entire community. Those who prey on children will face the full force of the law.”

For Shantel’s parents, justice will not bring their daughter back.

But in Mathira, a village mourns a child whose life was cut short by betrayal—and a Sh10 coin that changed everything.