PHOTO | COURTESY Jahaziel Dionte Rashard Carter who has been charged with the murder of Eric Cheptuko, a Kenyan whose body was discovered in his US apartment on December 28, 2013.  SANDY SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT
ATLANTA, US
Police in the United States have arrested and charged a man in connection with the murder of a Kenyan who was shot dead on December 28, last year.
A spokesperson from Sandy Springs Police Department told reporters Tuesday that they had arrested Jahaziel Dionte Rashard Carter in connection with the murder of Eric Chepkuto, 36.
Cheptuko’s body was discovered by his wife at his apartment in the 8100 block of Colquitt Road in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Police said he died from a single gunshot wound.
According to court documents seen by the Nation, Carter is currently held at the Fulton County Jail after being charged with murder, financial card transaction fraud, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
A police spokesperson told the Nation that the Sandy Springs Police Department had initially classified the case as suicide. “However, once the officers got there, they decided it was homicide fuelled by the fact that they found no gun but did find two shell casings,” Said Captain Steve Rose.
Although it took a month before the police could apprehend the suspect, the department had, in mid January, offered $2000 (about Sh172,000) to anyone with information leading to the arrest of the suspected assassin.
Last month, Cheptuko’s family appealed to the Kenyan government to intervene and investigate the circumstances surrounding their kin’s death.
A family member told the Nation that Cheptuko had lived in the US for 15 years and was in the process of finalising his plans to return to Kenya in April this year.
Carter was arrested on January 26, 2014.