A Delta State High Court has sentenced one Obinna Eze to death for the murder of a six-month-old baby boy, Chimaobi Igwe.
Eze was arraigned before the court, sitting at Akwukwu-igbo, presided over by Hon Justice Marcel Okoh, on a three-count charge bordering on attempted murder, murder and causing grievous bodily harm, punishable under sections 320, 319 and 335 respectively of the Criminal Code Laws of Delta state.
The prosecution was conducted by the State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Mr Omamuzo Erebe, who led other counsel, namely J.A. Otite, Solomon Funkekeme Jnr, M.C Okafor, and Mrs Betty Adams, in the matter while the Defendant was led by his Counsel P.C. Onubah Esq. to testify in his defence and called no witness.
The prosecution called three witnesses and tendered two exhibits to prove its case.
The prosecution called PW1, Mrs Blessing Igwe, the mother of the deceased baby.
She told the court that on October 27, 2023, she had a disagreement over 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 baby, 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 as a result of three deep penetrating injuries to the head caused by a sharp object such as a cutlass.
Delivering judgement, Hon Justice Marcel Okoh said the eye witness 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 and sentenced the respondent to death by hanging for murder.