‍An East London mother has been charged with murdering her four-year-old son by stabbing him to death after collecting him from school. On Monday, Inner London Crown Court heard that police officers found Kobi Dooly-Macharia "cold to the touch" in his cot with dozens of stab wounds in December 2023. Police also identified that attempts at strangulation had also been made. Mother Keziah Macharia, 43, has since been charged with Kobi's murder, however, she was deemed unfit to stand trial.

Judge Thornton is to hold a "fact-finding hearing" to decide whether Macharia killed her son, but not if she murdered him, telling jurors not to "consider her state of mind and whether she is at fault." When discussing the background of the case, Prosecutor Mukul Chawla KC claimed Macharia began dating Kobi's father, Ben Dooly, after they met in 2018. Kobi was then born in September 2019. The couple then resided together in Macharia's first-floor flat in Montague Road, Hackney. However, their relationship began to break down shortly after Kobi's birth.

Although Dooly had moved out of the flat, he still slept on Macharia's sofa two or three days out of the week. This arrangement came to an end when he met his current girlfriend, Sasha Sasheva. The court heard Macharia was "very unhappy" with Dooly's new relationship, particularly with son Kobi spending time with Sasheva. Macharia became obsessive, which resulted in Sasheva blocking her phone number and blocking her on social media due to the messages she received from Macharia. Ben Dooly last saw his son alive at his school nativity play, just a day before the attack, jurors heard.

CCTV footage showing Macharia collecting her son from school was shown in court. Macharia could be seen grabbing her son from Nightingale Primary School, where Kobi could be seen leaving wearing a coat and carrying a red balloon. When commenting on how Macharia appeared, the prosecutor said: "You see nothing of distress or anything out of the ordinary in terms of her demeanour". He added: "It appears that at some point that evening the defendant started drinking alcohol; when she started drinking and how much she drank cannot be established".

It was revealed in court that Macharia had sent ex, Ben Dooly, a series of WhatsApp messages following the murder. At 10:42 pm Macharia sent the following message: "Hi Ben, good Luck with the biteme-cups five days before Xmas! "I hope you and Sasha enjoy your lives together. I can't live knowing that she'll have the same surname as my son Kobi, and I will not be in your life anymore. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Goodbye x".

Shortly after, Macharia messaged Sasheva's phone saying "this is all your fault" and "you will never have the same surname as my son." At 10:48 pm, her final message to Dooly read "Kobi is dead", adding "you can thank Sasha for that". It was then that the police were contacted by Dooly. Police attended the scene at 10:59 pm, and bodycam footage of the police callout was shown to the court. At 11pm as police approached her door, Macharia texted Sasheva saying "you b*tch". At 11:01 pm, she then texted Mr Dooly saying "I hate iger both", intending to type "you both". After breaking down the door to her home, police found Macharia drenched in blood and sitting in front of the sofa in her living room - a knife could be seen behind her. Chawla stated that officers were heard asking, "Who did this?" before Macharia "raises her hand to her chest, acknowledging it was her".

Police officers also documented that Macharia had attempted to take an overdose with the intent of harming herself. Chawla also added that after being taken to Stoke Newington Police station, Macharia had "a very blunted muted affect" and intermittently sobbed. He continued: "She told officers repeatedly she just wanted her baby back, and she just wanted to see his sweet face". Kobi was pronounced dead at 12:06 am on December 12 2023. The trial continues.