NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 15- Detectives on Thursday arrested the prime suspect in the gruesome killing of Agnes Tirop, the celebrated long-distance athlete.
Police identified the suspect as Ibrahim Rotich, saying he was arrested in Mombasa, while on the run.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations said the suspect was being held at Changamwe police station in Mombasa.
“He was trying to flee to a neighbouring country to evade justice,” a senior detective privy to his arrest and ongoing investigations told Shahidi News.
Rotich is said to have been in a relationship with the late athlete.
“Rotich is believed to have killed the two-time world athletics championships bronze medalist by stabbing her before going into hiding,” the DCI said.
Ibraham Rotich, the prime suspect into the gruesome murder of Tirop.
The incident is said to have happened on Tuesday night.
Tirop’s lifeless body was found lying on the bed in Iten, with visible stab wounds on her stomach.
Police had spent the better part of Thursday pursuing the suspect.
At some point, he is said to have had rammed his “getaway vehicle into a lorry in Athi River, along Mombasa Road, as he desperately escaped our dragnet.”
She was part of the triumphant Kenyan contingent to this year’s delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she represented the country in the 5,000m race and finished 4th in the final.
In a message of condolence and comfort to the family, friends, relatives, and the athletics fraternity, President Uhuru Kenyatta mourned Tirop as a Kenyan hero and champion whose death is a big blow to the country’s sporting ambitions and profile.
“It is unsettling, utterly unfortunate and very sad that we’ve lost a young and promising athlete who, at a young age of 25 years, she had brought our country so much glory through her exploits on the global athletics stage including in this year’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she was part of the Kenyan team in Japan,” the President eulogised.
“It is even more painful that Agnes, a Kenyan hero by all measures, painfully lost her young life through a criminal act perpetuated by selfish and cowardly people,” the President said and directed the police to hasten the search and apprehension of the athlete’s killers.
“I urge our law enforcement agencies led by the National Police Service to track down and apprehend the criminals responsible for the killing of Agnes so that they can face the full force of the law,” the Head of State directed.
Want to send us a story? Contact Shahidi News Tel: +254115512797 (Mobile & WhatsApp)
