2008 Woodie Awards
CSUF Student Arrested For Four-Year-Old's Murder
Kenya immigrant confessed to Fullerton Police the drowning of his 4-year-old son.
David Leng
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: News
35-year-old Gideon Walter Omondi was arrested by Fullerton Police September 10 on charges of murder and special circumstances of lying in wait.
Omondi turned himself in to the Fullerton police station late Sunday and
openly confessed to the drowning of Richard Omondi, his 4-year-old son.
Authorities found the boy's body on his father's bed in an apartment complex at 3200 Palm Drive.
Omondi is held without bail at the Orange County Jail.
Richard "Richie" Omndi attended Fullerton College's Child Development Center during day time while his mother, Hellen Omondi, bused to work and his father attended mechanical engineering class at Cal State Fullerton.
Gideon Omondi filed for divorce in March of '05, citing irreconcilable differences in his petition. The child lived in his mother's apartment and only spent every other weekend with his father. Gideon had argued for the custody of the child, accusing his wife of being too unstable to care for the boy; the court, however, ordered shared custody for both of them in January of this year.
Lescia Myers, the boy's former baby-sitter, said the county had sent out Child Protective Service agents to Gideon Omondis on allegations of child neglect, but CPS could not confirm they had sent out somebody to Omondi.
Diane Montano, director of the Child Development Center at Fullerton College, organized a meeting with Richie's classmates and their parents at the center on the 13th, to facilitate the grieving process.
Several teachers who had Richie Omondi in their classes spoke of how adorable Richie was to everybody.
"He would come and hug me everyday when he saw me, he was very loving to the teachers," Karin Pavelek, daytime teacher at Child Development Center, said.
Richie's teachers particularly disagreed with repots of Richie demonstrating signs of aggression during class.
"He's not [aggressive] at all like how some stories say he is, he got along well with not only the kids, but even their parents too," Said Pavelek. "He would go talk to his friends' parents when he saw them. He was just very a very sociable kid."
"He loved taking field trips to Fullerton campus," Yoka Koo, another one of
Richie Omondi's teacher said. "He loved the trips to the biology lab and multicultural day. He even wanted to be the head of the dragon on the parade. He was always very anxious to learn different things."
"Richie hasn't been in this country for too long, but he didn't shy away from people. He was very active, always moving around, just like any typical 4-year-old kid we have in our class," Koo said.
"Things may get better as more time goes by, but we all miss him very much still," Pavelek said.
A fund has been setup to help Hellen Omondi offset the some of the cost of
Richie Omondi's funeral. For information on how to contribute, contact Fullerton
Community Bank at 714-578-7500.
Omondi turned himself in to the Fullerton police station late Sunday and
openly confessed to the drowning of Richard Omondi, his 4-year-old son.
Authorities found the boy's body on his father's bed in an apartment complex at 3200 Palm Drive.
Omondi is held without bail at the Orange County Jail.
Richard "Richie" Omndi attended Fullerton College's Child Development Center during day time while his mother, Hellen Omondi, bused to work and his father attended mechanical engineering class at Cal State Fullerton.
Gideon Omondi filed for divorce in March of '05, citing irreconcilable differences in his petition. The child lived in his mother's apartment and only spent every other weekend with his father. Gideon had argued for the custody of the child, accusing his wife of being too unstable to care for the boy; the court, however, ordered shared custody for both of them in January of this year.
Lescia Myers, the boy's former baby-sitter, said the county had sent out Child Protective Service agents to Gideon Omondis on allegations of child neglect, but CPS could not confirm they had sent out somebody to Omondi.
Diane Montano, director of the Child Development Center at Fullerton College, organized a meeting with Richie's classmates and their parents at the center on the 13th, to facilitate the grieving process.
Several teachers who had Richie Omondi in their classes spoke of how adorable Richie was to everybody.
"He would come and hug me everyday when he saw me, he was very loving to the teachers," Karin Pavelek, daytime teacher at Child Development Center, said.
Richie's teachers particularly disagreed with repots of Richie demonstrating signs of aggression during class.
"He's not [aggressive] at all like how some stories say he is, he got along well with not only the kids, but even their parents too," Said Pavelek. "He would go talk to his friends' parents when he saw them. He was just very a very sociable kid."
"He loved taking field trips to Fullerton campus," Yoka Koo, another one of
Richie Omondi's teacher said. "He loved the trips to the biology lab and multicultural day. He even wanted to be the head of the dragon on the parade. He was always very anxious to learn different things."
"Richie hasn't been in this country for too long, but he didn't shy away from people. He was very active, always moving around, just like any typical 4-year-old kid we have in our class," Koo said.
"Things may get better as more time goes by, but we all miss him very much still," Pavelek said.
A fund has been setup to help Hellen Omondi offset the some of the cost of
Richie Omondi's funeral. For information on how to contribute, contact Fullerton
Community Bank at 714-578-7500.
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