A Machakos court has declined to review bond terms for a key suspect in the death of a seven-month old baby who died while undergoing treatment at the Shalom Hospital this year.
The accused, Vincent Njau Ngang’a is one of the three suspects implicated in the death of baby Ethan Muendo whose death sparked public outcry and led to the closure of the hospital on May 6 by the county government.
He is charged alongside Irene Katete Mutinda and Odhiambo Kennedy who are currently out on a sh500, 000 bond.
Ngang’a is still in custody after he failed to raise the sh500, 000 bond.
He pleaded with the court to have his bond reduced to 450, 000 but Senior Principal Magistrate Caroline Ocharo declined the request terming the bond term as appropriate for the trio.
The three persons have already been identified as the ones who were on duty on the fateful day and positively identified as the staff who attended to the baby.
According to the Investigating Officer’s report, it was Ngang’a who prescribed for the morphine treatment and procedures to be administered while Mutinda identified only as a ‘nurse’ went ahead and administered the jab which is believed to have been 20 times more than the recommended dose.
It is this jab which is believed to have killed the infant.
The suspects are expected back in court on June 20, 2019.
Last week, an analyses on the brain of the baby Ethan Muendo shows that the infant suffered some bleeding at the surface of the brain prior to his death.
The development came more than two weeks after baby Ethan died after he was allegedly injected with an overdose of morphine.
According to a Pathology report released by a team of pathologists led by Kenyatta National Hospital’s Dr. Daniel Zuriel the infant suffered raised intracranial pressure.
The postmortem report further stated that the infant suffered raised pressure in the brain.
The team of pathologists has however extracted microscopic samples of the brain for further analysis at the Government chemist which will form part of the final report.
Morphine is in a class of drugs known as opiates and is used as the last line of analgesic commonly used by those suffering from excruciating pain brought by terminal illnesses like cancer or freak accidents.