A nurse at Kenyatta National Hospital has reminisced about her final interaction with a patient before he was found dead with a deep cut on his neck in a hospital ward.

She is a key prosecution witness in the murder case arising from Gilbert Kinyua Muthoni’s death at the hospital.

While testifying before Justice Diana Kavedza, Nurse Sharon Chepchieng told the High Court in Kibera on Wednesday that she was on duty conducting routine rounds in Ward 7B on the material night.

She said she interacted with patients Kennedy Kalombotole, the accused person and Gilbert, who was later found dead.

Chepchieng told the court that Kalombotole had been admitted to the hospital on December 11, 2024, with a convulsive disorder associated with diabetes. She said he was able to move and was sharing a room with Gilbert.

Gilbert, 40, had also been admitted on December 11, 2024, with bed sores and Guillain-Barré syndrome, which Chepchieng explained can cause paralysis that spreads from the limbs upwards.

The nurse testified that the Gilbert was unable to feed himself, move, turn on his own or speak.

Chepchieng said that during one of her rounds, last year February 7, she entered the second cubicle to administer medication to the two patients.

She said she asked Kalombotole to give her his hand so that she could take his blood pressure.

"When I entered second cubicle to administer medication to the two patients I asked kalombotole to give me his hand so that I can take his blood pressure. When he gave me his hand, I saw splash of blood in my next patient’s blanket, Gilbert,” she told the court.

Alarmed by what she had seen, Chepchieng said she left the blood pressure machine and uncovered Gilbert's blanket, where she discovered a deep cut on his neck.

She testified she immediately left the room and alerted her colleagues before informing the team leader, one Mr Mutua, who instructed her to notify security.

The nurse said she then contacted the hospital control room and informed a security officer.

"I went to inform team leader Mr Mutua who told me to inform security. I did then went and called control room and informed security official by the name Pamela to send security to ward 7B," she submitted.

While she alerted security, Mutua, she said was informing the hospital about the incident.

Chepchieng said security officers arrived and took over the scene.

The court heard that the nurse’s last interaction with Gilbert before the discovery of the injury occurred during the night shift.

According to her statement, she had called out the deceased's name at about 9pm and he responded by opening his eyes. She said he could not speak or move.

She told the court that she had been administering medication before 9pm and had tried to communicate with Gilbert, who responded by opening his eyes.

Chepchieng said she later went back to the ward, although she could not remember the details of that interaction.

She said that during her final round at about 5.50am, she noticed blood and subsequently discovered the deep cut on Muthoni’s neck.

During cross-examination, the defence asked whether she had observed any interaction between Kalombotole and Muthoni during the night.

The nurse also told the court that she did not observe any violent behaviour from Kalombotole during her shift and did not see a knife on the material night.

She submitted that while hospital policy generally requires rounds to be conducted depending on patients’ needs and normally after about every three hours, she did not strictly follow the routine on the night in question.

Chepchieng testified that she conducted rounds at about 5pm, 9pm and midnight, adding that nurses work as a team and can ask colleagues to attend to their patients.

She said she had asked Mutua to conduct a round at about 4am.

The nurse said she handed over her shift to the incoming nursing staff at about 7.30am but was instructed to remain at the hospital to record a statement, which she did on February 8, 2025.

The murder case continues.