Dorothy Ong’era case: US court to determine who gets her remains

Ms Ong’era, a mother of six, died December 2020, almost one year ago in circumstances that remain mysterious.

Her father, David Ong’era is locked in a vicious court battle with Mr Obadiah Kinara, the man she cohabited with. Mr Ong’era’s has resisted demands for the exhumation of his daughter’s body for a post-mortem to determine the cause of her death.

The court battle was initiated by Mr Ong’era after Mr Kinara rejected his demands for an independent autopsy following the mysterious death of his daughter.

Mr Kinara secretly buried Dorothy without involving her parents who live in the same Tarrant County, Texas.

In an order seen by Nation.Africa, Tarrant County Judge Brooke Allen, directed the parties to present their submissions, disclose their witnesses and expert authority before the matter is determined.

“On September 10, 2021, the Court of Appeals, Send Appellate District of Texas at Fort Worth denied the petition for writ of mandamus. No other appellate documents were filed,” read the order from the court.

Judge Allen ruled: “It is therefore ordered that trial is set for the week of November 15, 2021 at 9am, via Zoom. It is the counsel’s responsibility to have any dispositive motions set and heard prior to the pre-trial hearing.”

About two months ago—September 10, 2021—a superior court in Texas dismissed Mr Kinara’s application to block the exhumation of his spouse after Judge Allen ordered that the remains of Ms Ong’era be exhumed.

Ms Ong’era’s body was found in a bathtub on December 17, 2020—about eleven months ago.

Her death and subsequent controversy has become a matter of significant interest among Kenyan immigrants in the US who have watched in awe as the two families lock horns in court over a simple issue that should have been solved amicably.

The hearing has continued to be streamed live on Judge Allen’s Facebook page. This week’s hearing will also stream live from Texas starting around 4pm Kenyan time.

The scheduled hearing will determine the next of kin who will be given rights of handling the body from exhumation to the post-mortem and finally second burial.

Although Mr Kinara claims he was married to the deceased, Mr Ong’era has disputed this stating his daughter was only cohabiting with Kinara and that no legal marriage ever took place between the two.

Ong’era claims that before she came to the US Dorothy was married to Dennis Nyakundi Mose with whom she had three of her six children.

Mr Ong’era has stated that he spoke with his daughter barely an hour before he received a call informing him that Dorothy had died through accidental drowning.

He told the court at one time that his main interest is to know how his daughter died suddenly yet the bathtub in which she allegedly drowned was not deep for an adult to drown in.