The family of embattled city lawyer Assa Nyakundi has expressed dead regrets following the death of his son last Sunday at Runda estate in Nairobi.
Rev Eliud Nyakundi, the family spokesman who teaches at Kisii University, said the death of Nyakundi's son, Joseph, came as a shock to the family given that his grandfather was murdered a decade ago.
“The Sunday incident has left us in shock. It is double tragedy with one of our own dead and another in hospital,” Assa’s younger brother, Bishop Eliud Nyakundi, who is a lecturer at Kisii University, told Nation.
Assa has been handling high profile criminal cases and the family feared he could be a soft target and urged him to get a gun.He is representing in court Nyeri Magistrate Pauline Omungala, who is accused of killing her husband, Robert Chesang.
He is also in the defence team for three Chinese nationals who were in January arrested for illegal possession of wildlife trophies.According to the family, he has been a licenced firearm holder for the last 20 years, and all this time, he has neither threatened nor brandished his gun at anyone.
“For all this time, he has handled his firearm well and at no single time did he misuse it. He is a person of stable mind and does not suffer anger or annoyance,” said Eliud.
Mr Nyakundi insisted that his gun had discharged accidentally, killing his son who was sitted behind the driver's seat. He reported the matter to Muthaiga Police Station.
Joseph Nyakundi, an International Relations student, died at Aga Khan Hospital as his father faces murder charges. But the family maintains that the death was accidental.