He targeted them in their defenseless state and slaughtered them like animals
In a Kampala courtroom carried into the very community where the crime occurred, a 38-year-old man was sentenced to death for the ritual killing of four toddlers at a nursery school — an act he once framed as sacrifice and later disavowed as madness. The judge, unmoved by the insanity plea and anchored by overwhelming evidence, found him fully conscious of what he had done. The sentence lands in a country where capital punishment exists more as legal architecture than lived practice, leaving the families of four small children — Eteku, Keisha, Sseruyange, and Odeke — to reckon with a justice that is real but incomplete.
- Four children between one and two years old were stabbed to death at a Kampala nursery on an ordinary April morning, their killer apprehended at the scene.
- The accused offered two contradictory accounts — first a confession framed as ritual sacrifice for wealth, then a courtroom plea of insanity — creating a trial defined by the tension between stated motive and legal culpability.
- Prosecutors dismantled the insanity defense with DNA on the knife handle, CCTV footage, cell records, and the direct testimony of daycare workers who watched the attack unfold.
- The judge declared him 'very sane,' sentenced him to death by hanging, and noted with particular weight that he had never once expressed remorse or acknowledged the families he destroyed.
- The verdict drew cheers from the gathered community, yet the sentence exists in a country where no execution has been carried out since 2005 — and a 14-day appeal window keeps the outcome open.
On April 2nd, Christopher Okello Onyum entered the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program in Kampala and stabbed four children to death. Eteku Gideon, Keisha Agenorwoth, Sseruyange Ignatius, and Odeke Ryan were all between one and two years old. He was arrested at the scene.
In initial questioning, Onyum described the killings as a human sacrifice — something he believed would bring him wealth. By the time the case reached court, his account had changed entirely. He pleaded not guilty and argued he had been mentally incapable of forming intent, asking the court to find him not guilty by reason of insanity.
The prosecution answered with eighteen witnesses, forensic DNA linking him to the knife, CCTV footage of his movements, cell phone records placing him at the nursery, and the direct testimony of two daycare staff members who watched him attack the children. The case was methodical and specific.
Justice Alice Komuhangi Khauka delivered her ruling in a makeshift courtroom set up within the community where the murders had taken place. She rejected the insanity defense without hesitation, describing Onyum as fully sane on the day of the attack. She sentenced him to death by hanging. The crowd gathered to hear the verdict responded with cheers.
From the bench, the judge noted what she found most striking: that Onyum had never apologized, never shown remorse, never acknowledged the four families left behind. He had targeted children who could not run or fight back, she said, and had done so without fear or shame.
Capital punishment in Uganda is rarely carried out — the last execution was in 2005. Onyum has fourteen days to appeal. The legal story may continue. The story of four children brought to nursery school on an April morning does not.
On April 2nd, Christopher Okello Onyum walked into the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program in Kampala and killed four children. Eteku Gideon, Keisha Agenorwoth, Sseruyange Ignatius, and Odeke Ryan were all between one and two years old. He used a kitchen knife. All four died from stab wounds.
Onyum, 38, a dual citizen of Uganda and the United States, was arrested at the scene. During initial questioning, he told investigators what he had done—and offered an explanation that seemed to come from somewhere outside ordinary criminal logic. He called the killings a human sacrifice, he said, something he believed would make him wealthy. But when the case reached court, his account shifted. He entered a plea of not guilty, then argued he had been mentally unwell at the time, incapable of forming the intent to kill. The court, he urged, should find him not guilty by reason of insanity.
The prosecution built its case methodically. Eighteen witnesses testified over the course of the trial. Forensic evidence linked Onyum's DNA to the knife handle. CCTV footage showed his movements before the attack. Cell phone records placed him at the nursery. Two daycare staff members took the stand and described watching him stab the children. The evidence was layered and specific—the kind of case that leaves little room for reasonable doubt.
Justice Alice Komuhangi Khauka delivered her judgment at a makeshift courtroom set up in the community where the murders had occurred. She rejected the insanity defense outright. Onyum was "very sane" on the day of the attack, she said. She sentenced him to death by hanging. The ruling prompted cheers from those gathered to hear it.
In her remarks from the bench, the judge described what Onyum had done in unflinching terms. He had targeted children in their most vulnerable state, she said—defenseless infants who could not run or fight back. He had shown no fear, no shame, no regard for human life. What struck her most, she added, was that he had never apologized, never expressed remorse, never acknowledged the families of the four children he had killed.
Capital punishment remains on Uganda's books, but it is almost never carried out. The last execution took place in 2005. Onyum has fourteen days to file an appeal. Whether he will do so, and whether an appeal might succeed, remains uncertain. What is certain is that four toddlers who were brought to a nursery school on an ordinary morning in April will not come home.
Notable Quotes
He targeted them in their defenceless state and went ahead to slaughter them like animals... and had no fear, no shame, no consideration for human life.— Justice Alice Komuhangi Khauka, delivering the sentence
I would have at least expected an apology from him to the families of the babies.— Justice Alice Komuhangi Khauka, noting Onyum's lack of remorse
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did he claim it was a human sacrifice? Was there any evidence he actually believed that?
The prosecution presented what he said during questioning—that he thought it would make him rich. Whether he genuinely believed that or was constructing a narrative, the court didn't need to decide. The evidence of what he did was overwhelming.
The insanity plea—how seriously did the judge consider it?
She dismissed it entirely. She said he was "very sane." The forensic evidence, the planning visible in the CCTV footage, the deliberate targeting of the children—all of it suggested someone acting with full awareness of what he was doing.
What about the families? Did they speak in court?
The judgment doesn't say. But the judge noted his complete lack of remorse, the fact that he never apologized to them. That absence seemed to matter to her.
Will this execution actually happen?
Uganda hasn't carried one out in over twenty years. He has fourteen days to appeal. The legal machinery will move, but whether it ends in death is genuinely uncertain.
What was the community's reaction?
The courtroom erupted when the sentence was announced. People cheered. This happened in the neighborhood where it occurred—the trial was held there deliberately, it seems. The community had been living with this.
Did he have any defense at all?
His lawyer argued insanity. But against DNA, video, phone records, and eyewitnesses, it was a narrow path. The judge simply didn't believe him.