Delta: Man sentenced to die by hanging over murder of six-month-old baby

A Delta State High Court sitting at Akwukwu-Igbo and presided over by Honourable Justice Marcel Okoh has convicted and sentenced one Obinna Eze (m) to death for the murder of a six-month-old baby boy, Chimaobi Igwe.

The defendant was arraigned before the court on three counts information for the offenses of Attempted Murder, Murder, and Causing Grievous Bodily Harm, punishable under sections 320, 319, and 335, respectively, of the Criminal Code Laws of Delta.

The prosecution was conducted by the State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mr. Omamuzo Erebe, who led other counsel, namely Messrs J.A. Otite, Solomon Funkekeme Jnr and M.C. Okafor, in the matter.

In proof of its case, the prosecution called three witnesses and tendered two exhibits.

The defendant was led by his Counsel, P.C. Onubah Esq., to testify in his defense and called no witnesses.
The prosecution called PW1, Mrs Blessing Igwe, the mother of the deceased baby.

She told the court that on 27th October 2023, she disagreed with a missing phone belonging to the defendant.

The defendant, who was her co-tenant at Talitha Street, off Okpanam Road, Asaba, attacked her with a cutlass and inflicted several cuts on her and on the head of her six-month-old baby.

She told the court that she and her son were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

The deceased, however, died a week later from the injuries inflicted on him.

The PW2, Dr. Emmanuel Egbuduka, a pathologist who conducted an autopsy on the body of the deceased, told the court that the cause of death was a result of three deep penetrating injuries inflicted on the head by a sharp object such as a cutlass.

Delivering judgment, Justice Okoh said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

He said the eyewitness evidence of the deceased’s mother PW1, the evidence of the pathologist PW2, and the confessional statement of the defendant made to the Investigation Police Officer, all established the case of the prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt.

The court rejected the defendant’s denial in his testimony before the court and his retraction of the confessional statement.

The court then sentenced the defendant to death by hanging for the murder of Chimaobi Igwe.