A 36-year-old woman named Janet Jegede must be detained as a criminal insane after fatally stabbing her husband Kayode, according to a ruling made on Thursday by the Ekiti State High Court in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.
On September 16, 2020, Jegede was charged with a felony count of murder before Justice Bamidele Omotoso.
The defendant is accused of murdering Kayode Jegede (her husband) on November 17, 2019, in Ado Ekiti, in violation of Section 316 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C16 of the Laws of Ekiti State, 2012, and in violation of Section 319 (1) of said law.
According to Ayomide, her stepson, stated to the police, his stepmother called him and asked him to come home and take his father to the hospital because she had killed him.
“When I got home, I met my father in the pool of his blood, gasping. I saw a knife hanging on his chest. I asked her what happened, but her explanation was incoherent.
“When I removed the knife, the bleeding increased. I went outside to call neighbors to help me take him to the hospital. He was rushed to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital where he was confirmed dead on arrival.
“My stepmother once reported my father to me asking me to warn him to stop infidelity. She had threatened to kill him if he refused to stop. I took it as an empty threat until she killed my father,” Ayomide had said.
Abayomi Olowoyo-Richard, the prosecutor, called five witnesses and produced statements from the defendant, a knife, pictures of the deceased’s corpse, and witness statements as exhibits.
However, the defendant’s attorney, Emmanuel Adedeji, sought the court to discharge and acquit her on the grounds of insanity, claiming that the defendant was mentally unstable at the time of the occurrence.
“It is recognized that where a plea of insanity succeeds, the defendant will be ordered to be confined in a prescribed place to await further order of the relevant authority,” Judge Omotoso wrote in his decision.
“I hereby order that the defendant, Janet Jegede, be kept in custody as a criminal lunatic at a correctional services center, off Afao Road, Ado Ekiti, until the governor’s pleasure be known in line with Section 223 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2011.”