City police arrested Mundia's husband, Edward Mwaura, on suspicion of invasion of privacy, a Class Amisdemeanor, and took him to the St. Joseph County Jail, where he was booked just before 7:30 a.m., according to jail records. By 1:30 p.m. the same day, Mwaura was free.
Less than 72 hours later, police burst into the same first-floor apartment at 4252 Irish Hills Drive and found Mwaura on top of his daughter, Shirley Mundia, slaughtering her with a knife.
In the nine months leading up to Shirley Mundia's brutal killing early Sunday morning, her mother filed a protective order against Mwaura and called police to her apartment four times to report alleged domestic violence, harassment, protective order violation and attempted burglary, police and court records show.
But Mwaura was arrested in just one of the incidents -- the alleged protective order violation Thursday -- and he never faced charges. Lora Bentley, a spokeswoman for the St. Joseph County prosecutor's office, said prosecutors reviewed the allegedprotective order violation but decided they did not have grounds to press charges.
"It was reviewed, and the decision was made that the facts did not warrant prosecution," Bentley said.
St. Joseph Superior Court records show Lucy Mundia asked on behalf of Shirley for a protective order against Mwaura in September. On Oct. 1, a judge dismissed the petition when neither Lucy Mundia nor Mwaura appeared for a scheduled court hearing, according to court records.
Citing the ongoing investigation, Bentley said she could not discuss possible protective orders filed against Mwaura.
The Indiana Department of Child Services also had previous contact with Shirley Mundia's family, the agency confirmed. Spokeswoman Stephanie McFarland said Monday that the family had been the subject of a DCS case, but she declined to provide any details about the previous inquiry.
"DCS has had prior contact with this family, and I can tell you it has been some time ago," McFarland said.
McFarland would not say how long ago the contact occurred or where the family was living at the time, citing state and federal privacy laws.
A source close to Lucy Mundia's family, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive topic, said Lucy and Shirley Mundia lived with Mwaura until early 2012, when the DCS intervened because of domestic violence issues.
Lucy and Shirley Mundia then lived with Lucy Mundia's brother for a few months before moving into the Irish Hills apartment, the source said. The family came to the United States from Kenya soon after Shirley Mundia was born, the source said.
Lucy Mundia's first call to police from the Irish Hills apartment came Dec. 2 for domestic violence, city police Division Chief Gary Horvath said. She called the next day to report harassment, but no suspect was arrested in either incident, Horvath said.
Early Thursday morning, Mwaura was arrested for the alleged protective order violation and was released the same day. Then, about 10 a.m. Friday, Mundia called to police to report that someone had attempted to break into her apartment, Horvath said. Again, no suspect was arrested.
Less than 48 hours later, about 4:45 a.m. Sunday, police went to the Irish Hills apartment in response to 911 calls about a bloody domestic dispute. Outside the apartment building, police encountered a bloodied Lucy Mundia, who was screaming that her child was still inside with Mwaura, witnesses said.
That's when police kicked in the door and found Mwaura stabbing his own daughter, investigators said.
The prosecutor's office, which oversees St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit investigations, on Monday released autopsy results that showed Shirley Mundia died from "multiple sharp force injuries." Medical examiners ruled the girl's death a homicide, the city's second of 2013.
Mwaura died from a stab wound to the chest and multiple gunshot wounds, according to the prosecutor's office. Metro Homicide is still investigating Mwaura's death, as it does all police-action shootings, to determine if the shooting was justified. Authorities have not released the name of the officer who shot Mwaura.
It also remained unclear how Mwaura was stabbed in the chest.
Officials with Metro Homicide and the prosecutor's office did not immediately return calls Monday afternoon seeking comment on the autopsy results.
Shirley Mundia had been a student at Veritas Academy, where she graduated from kindergarten Thursday, said Germaine Smith, the school's director of education. Smith described Shirley as a bright, hard-working girl, well-liked by other students.
"She was a happy little girl, always gave hugs and was always smiling," Smith said in a statement. "We love her and will miss her."
By South Bend Tribune Staff writer Christian Sheckler: CSheckler@sbtinfo.com | 574-235-6480
- South Bend Tribune
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