SOROTI, Uganda — The wife of the director of Jozan Nursery and Primary School has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of five-year-old pupil Joan Faith Apio, while her husband and brother-in-law have been handed prison terms of 35 and 45 years respectively.
Ariokot Susan Vivian Okedi was sentenced on Thursday by the High Court in Soroti after she, her husband Okedi Joseph and his brother, Obotol John Bosco, were convicted over the murder of the Primary One pupil.
Resident Judge Justice Boniface Wamala handed down the sentences after finding the three family members responsible for Apio’s death.
Apio died on February 5, 2025, two days after she and her twin sister were taken to Jozan Nursery and Primary School by their mother.
The mother had entrusted the two children to the school administration on February 3 and remained in contact with the school on February 3 and 4. She was reportedly assured that the twins were doing well.
But on February 5, the school informed her that Apio had fallen ill and had been taken to Soroti Regional Referral Hospital.
When the mother arrived at the hospital, she found her daughter already dead.
The death was reported to police, triggering investigations that led to the arrest of the school director, his wife and his brother.
Obotol was a police officer attached to the Crime Intelligence Department at Soroti East Division at the time of the incident.
Two juveniles were also arrested in connection with the murder.
During the proceedings, the charges against the juveniles were amended to accessory to the fact of murder. They were subsequently convicted and sentenced to one year, five months and 28 days in prison.
The juveniles later testified for the prosecution against the three adult accused.
The prosecution was led by Soroti Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Gladys Macrina Nyanzi.
Medical evidence presented before the court established the violent nature of Apio’s death.
A post-mortem examination found that the child had sustained three incisional wounds to the neck, running from left to right.
The wounds caused extensive injuries, completely severing the trachea, oesophagus and major blood vessels. The thyroid bone was also fractured.
The examination concluded that Apio died from excessive bleeding caused by extensive damage to the soft tissues and blood vessels of her neck. Her death was classified as homicide.
The court also heard evidence concerning the alleged motive for the killing.
Prosecution evidence linked Apio’s status as a twin to the alleged motive, with the court hearing that she was killed for “blessings.”
Following the convictions, Justice Wamala sentenced Ariokot to life imprisonment.
Her husband, Okedi, was sentenced to 35 years in prison, while Obotol received 45 years.
The sentences bring to an end a case that began with the sudden death of a five-year-old child who had been entrusted to a school together with her twin sister.
It also exposed an extraordinary chain of events involving school officials, members of the same family, a serving police officer and two juveniles — all drawn into a murder case that has now ended with convictions and lengthy prison sentences.
