Suspect Surrenders After Missing Multimedia University Student Found Murdered

Philip Eric Mutinda, the main suspect in the murder of Multimedia University (MMU) student Sylvia Kemunto, turned himself in to the police at Sultan Hamud in Makueni County.

Mutinda, a first-year Electrical Engineering student at MMU, is suspected of being responsible for Kemunto’s death. Her body was found on Wednesday night inside a water tank on the rooftop of a hostel within the university compound.

Nairobi Police Commander George Sedah stated that the suspect turned himself in at the Sultan Hamud police station in Makueni on Thursday night, April 3, after being connected to the murder of Kemunto.

The suspect had been evading capture since last Monday, when he allegedly killed Kemunto and later disposed of her body in a water tank at the university just hours after the murder.

Sedah stated that a team from Nairobi had traveled to Sultan Hamud police station to take the suspect into custody for questioning. “It is unfortunate that a bright girl was killed. We believe he is a prime suspect in the murder, and a team has gone to pick him up,” he said.

Authorities suspected that he fled to his rural home after committing the crime. Sedah stated that investigators aim to determine whether he acted alone and what may have driven him to commit the murder.

Kemunto, a First-Year Mass Communications and Computer Science student, had gone missing under unclear circumstances on Sunday, March 30, 2025.

Her mother, Triza Kwamboka, had sent her upkeep money using a church elder’s phone number. However, when she attempted to contact her daughter to confirm the transaction, her calls went unanswered. Concerned, Kwamboka traveled to the university, only to find out that her daughter was missing.

She then reported the disappearance to Lang’ata Police Station after the school administration confirmed that Sylvia was unaccounted for.

Additionally, Sylvia had previously mentioned to her mother that another student had been making unwanted advances toward her.

"Sylvia had told me that there was a guy who was making advances at her; she did not like him, but he kept forcing her to be his friend,” Kwamboka revealed.

On the day Kemunto went missing, her roommate had left for church, leaving her alone in their Block B dormitory, room 90.

Investigations reveal that her boyfriend, Philip Eric Mutinda, visited her room around 1 p.m. that day. Eyewitnesses reported seeing Mutinda struggling with a suitcase—believed to belong to Kemunto—as he moved it from her third-floor room to his residence in Block E, room 301.

Later that night, Mutinda’s roommate noticed the suitcase in their room, but by the following morning, it was no longer there.

Police launched an investigation, tracing Kemunto’s phone activity. Her signal was last detected within the university compound before her phone was switched off at around 10 p.m. on the day she vanished. This led the school administration to initiate a campus-wide search.

By Wednesday, a foul smell coming from Block E drew the attention of the search team. By the afternoon, the source was identified—a water tank on the rooftop of one of the hostels. Inside, investigators discovered Kemunto’s decomposing body, three days after she had gone missing.

Photo of murdered Multimedia University (MMU) student Sylvia Kemunto. /CITIZEN TV