Why court rejected Nyeri man’s guilty plea in murder of 7-year-old Tamara Blessing
Nicholas Macharia, 39, appears before the High Court in Nyeri on June 12, 2025, where he was accused of the murder of nine-year-old Tamara Blessing.
A suspect in the murder of seven-year-old Tamara Blessing in Nyeri County on Thursday pleaded guilty to the charge. However, the High Court rejected the guilty plea by Nicholas Macharia, 39, and gave him more time to reflect on the gravity and legal consequences of the capital offence.
Tamara, a Grade One pupil at Judah Primary School, had been reported missing for two days before her body was found buried beneath a bed inside Macharia’s timber house on May 26, 2025 in Witemere area, Majengo.
Appearing before Justice Magare Kizito on Thursday, Macharia, a porter at Nyeri Town Market, pleaded guilty to the murder charge. However, the judge noted that the accused had only been assigned a lawyer — Mr Mahugu Mbarire — 30 minutes before the court session.
“The accused will return to King’ong’o GK Prison and appear again in court on July 29 for plea retaking,” said Justice Kizito. “We are trying to avoid a situation where the accused moves to the Court of Appeal on grounds that the circumstances under which he took the plea were irregular.”
Tamara Blessing, 7, who was killed in Nyeri town.
Justice Kizito emphasised that the murder charge carries a mandatory death sentence, and the court must ensure due process is followed to avoid future appeals that could overturn the conviction. “It is my duty to ensure the accused understands the seriousness of the offence. If a death sentence is issued on the first day, an appeal is almost certain. We must take precautions to prevent the possibility of an acquittal or a lesser conviction down the line,” he said
During the court session, prosecution counsel Anthony Kimani presented a mental assessment report indicating that the accused was fit to plead. The report, compiled by Dr Juliana Mbuthia, a consultant psychiatrist at Murang’a Level Five Hospital, stated that Macharia had no surgical or psychiatric history. “He gives a history of alcohol and cigarette use and has previously been arrested for drunkenness,” the report read in part. It also described the accused as a single man, a casual labourer and a Standard Seven dropout, with no family history of mental illness.
A post-mortem revealed that Tamara died of smothering — a form of suffocation caused by obstruction of the nose and mouth.
The case continues on July 29, 2025.