A middle aged man has been sent to jail for 25 years for killing his step-son. George Otieno was found guilty of killing two-year-old Brian Omondi at Njoro Njokerio Estate in Nakuru on June 15, 2009.

The child's mother Esther Onyango said she returned from work and was told that her son, who she had left under the care of Otieno had died while undergoing treatment in hospital.

She said hospital records indicated that Omondi died as a result of a ruptured spleen after being hit with a blunt object. Onyango said told the court that Otieno, who was not Omondi's biological father, had been hostile to her son.

In his defence, Otieno told the court that he had left the deceased playing with other children and left for work. He said he took Omondi to hospital when found him vomiting after returning from work.

The court, however, doubted his testimony because he had assured Onyango that he would stay at home and look after Omondi. Otieno said that upon returning home, he found the child vomiting and had diarrhoea and took him to the hospital.

"Having found that the accused was left with the child on the fateful day, the child had therefore been mistreated, I find that he had duty to explain how the deceased met his death," said Justice Roselyn Wendoh.

She dismissed Otieno's testimony as "unreasonable" saying he was on duty at the time of the incident. Wendoh said had failed to explain how Omondi suffered bruises in chest and other parts of the body.