Stephen Githehu: the  Death of a Kenyan Ex-US Military Veteran in Georgia by suicide 

In 2017,Stephen “Mitu” Githehu was just 28 years old when he died by suicide on February 16, 2017, inside his apartment in Kennesaw, near Atlanta, Georgia. The Kenyan-born former U.S. Army serviceman left behind a shattered family and a community still grappling with how a young man so many described as full of life slipped into isolation and despair unnoticed by the systems meant to protect him.

Everybody who knew Stephen referred to him as a “cool and funny guy” — from staff at the leasing office of his apartment complex to his friends and former army mates he served with between 2010 and 2014, before enrolling for a degree program at Kennesaw State University. He was polite, disciplined, and well-liked. On the surface, nothing seemed wrong.

But around 2015, something changed.

Stephen began acting strangely. He stopped leaving his apartment and his social life slowly disappeared. He shunned his family and friends and withdrew completely. He would not open the door for his only sister, Jane Mukami, nor would he answer his phone or reply to messages. Months passed with him locked inside his apartment, unreachable.

Worried and desperate, Mukami eventually called the police. Officers went to Stephen’s apartment and later reported that he was clean-shaven and appeared “normal.” Stephen told them to tell his family to leave him alone. To authorities, there was nothing visibly wrong. To his family, it was clear something was deeply troubling him.

As the months went on, Stephen cut off communication entirely and lived in total isolation for nearly 12 months. During this time, he sent text messages to his sister talking about killing himself. Mukami showed these messages to the police and pleaded for help. She contacted the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Cobb County Police Department, the Cobb County Court System, the Kenyan Embassy in Washington, DC, and the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. Each time, she was told the same thing: Stephen was an adult, and unless he did something drastic, nothing could be done.

In November 2016, Stephen’s mother flew from Kenya to Georgia, hoping that a mother’s presence might break through where everything else had failed. For weeks, she went to his apartment every day and knocked on his door. Stephen never opened. She never saw her son.

The family went to court to seek a 1013 certificate, which would have authorized authorities to transport Stephen for mental health evaluation. But they were told they needed two witnesses who had laid eyes on him within 48 hours and observed irregular behavior. His mother and sister explained that Stephen refused to let anyone see him and that they had already called the police multiple times. The court could not help. Devastated and helpless, his mother returned to Kenya without ever seeing her son.

Then, in early February 2017, Stephen unexpectedly reached out to his sister after months of silence. He told her he was about to be evicted from his apartment and asked if she wanted his paintings. She said yes, and they were able to meet. During that meeting, Jane asked him where he planned to move. Stephen told her she would “know soon enough.” She begged him to move in with her. He refused.

A few days later, on February 16, 2017, sheriff’s deputies arrived at Stephen’s apartment to carry out the eviction. As they walked into his bedroom, Stephen grabbed a gun and shot himself.

He was 28 years old.

News of his death spread quickly through the Kenyan community in the United States and back home. His sister took to Facebook within hours, her grief laced with anger, questioning laws and systems that had prevented the family from intervening despite clear warning signs.

Stephen was laid to rest later that month at the Georgia National Cemetery with full military honors. His casket was draped in the American flag, honor guards stood watch, and he was buried as a fallen serviceman.

He left behind a confused and wounded family. He left behind questions nobody could answer. He left behind a broken mother, sister, and father — and a silence that no honor guard or folded flag could fill.

Stephen Githehu’s death in 2017 became more than a personal tragedy. It opened painful conversations among Kenyans in the diaspora about mental health, PTSD among veterans, isolation, and what happens when families see the danger coming but are powerless to stop it