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A friend of slain fashion model and LGBTQ activist Edwin Kiprotich, popularly known as Chiloba, broke down in tears as he recounted in court the last moments he shared with him.

Steve Okoth told the High Court in Eldoret that he used to live in the same apartment with Chiloba.
Presiding judge Reuben Nyakundi had to adjourn the hearing of the murder case for 15 minutes to enable the State witness to cool down.

Jackstone Odhiambo, who was Chiloba’s lover, is the prime suspect in the murder case. He has denied the murder charge.

When he resumed the witness stand, Okoth told the packed court how Chiloba, who was sharing a room with Odhiambo, cried loudly in distress before the noise in his room went silent.

“I was living on the ground floor of Noble Breeze apartment while Chiloba was on the first floor of the building. He shared the room with Odhiambo,” he said.

Okoth told the court that on the fateful night, he was watching a movie when he heard Chiloba crying as if calling for help.

“I knew Chiloba’s voice because when he was overwhelmed with emotion, he would just cry and then I would give him a shoulder to lean on as a close friend,” said Okoth.

He told the court that on that night, it did not occur to him that something was amiss until he later learned, through Facebook, of Chiloba’s death.

“When I met him at the apartment the day before the incident, he was in high spirits. He told me that he was going to celebrate the New Year’s eve at a popular Eldoret club known as Tamasha,” he recalled.
“The the last time I saw him was when he was entering his room on January 1, 2023. He was with his lover,” recalled Okoth.

Odhiambo, who is a freelance photographer, is accused of killing Chiloba between December 31, 2022 and January 3, 2023 at Noble Breeze Apartment off the Eldoret-Moi University Road in Uasin Gishu County.

Chiloba’s decomposed body was found on January 4, 2023 stuffed in a metal box. More than 10 witnesses have already given their testimonies with three, among them Government pathologist Johansen Oduor, remaining.