An American man, Kwame Adom Carpenter responsible for the 2015 violent deaths of wife Moureen Wanjiku Gathua -Carpenter and 6-month-old son Kyan Carpenter was on Friday sentenced to life in prison.
American media outlets reported that the sentencing was conducted by Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard M. King having been found guilty of two felony counts of murder two months prior.
“This was a horrific case. The image that is in everyone’s mind is the child crawling with a knife in his back," the judge was quoted by Orange County Register.
The publication noted that Kwame remained motionless during the sentencing hearing as the family members of the victims watched silently from the courtroom gallery.
While making his submission to the court, Deputy District Attorney Steve McGreevy stated, "This case has put the victims’ family, and the defendant’s family, through significant heartache.”
Moureen and the son succumbed to multiple stab wounds from a butcher knife following an altercation.
"While Carpenter brandished the butcher knife, Gathua-Carpenter held their baby and begged Carpenter not to hurt her, McGreevy told jurors during the trial. Carpenter grabbed Gathua-Carpenter, threw her to the floor, stomped on her head and knocked her out, then stabbed her “over and over again,” McGreevy told the court.
Gathua-Carpenter died at the scene, while the boy, who was also injured in the stabbing, died at a hospital a short time later.
