Magistrate Mustapha Braima Jah of Pademba Road Court No. 1 has committed two juveniles to stand trial at the High Court in connection with the murder of nurse and university lecturer Valentina Bisodun Catherine Kamanda.

Magistrate Mustapha Braima Jah of Pademba Road Court No. 1 ruled that prosecutors had established a prima facie case against 16-year-olds Goodluck Richard Nicol and Gerrald Tommy Tucker, alongside 19-year-old Bokarie Musa. All three defendants have been remanded in custody pending their High Court trial on Siaka Stevens Street.

Nicol, who is Kamanda’s adopted son, and Tucker face charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The charges stem from a violent attack on the night of February 8, 2026, at Kamanda’s residence in Adonkia, Goderich. According to preliminary police investigations previously presented, Nicol allegedly confessed to striking his adopted mother on the head with a pestle. A second child in the home was also severely injured during the attack and required hospitalization.

Musa, 19, is charged with receiving stolen property. Court documents allege he received several electronic items belonging to the deceased, including a Lenovo laptop, an Apple iPad, an iPhone, and three Samsung mobile phones. The recovery of these items contradicts initial police statements in February that suggested the homicide was not linked to a robbery.

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During the final committal hearing, the prosecutor, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Tommy B. Zizer, informed the court that the prosecution had officially closed its case. After reviewing the available evidence, Magistrate Jah stated he was satisfied that the threshold for a trial had been met and advanced the case to the High Court.

Because the matter was at the magistrate level for committal proceedings, the charges were read and explained to the unrepresented defendants, but no pleas were formally entered.

The brutal death of Kamanda, who also served as a lecturer at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences (COMAHS) and was a devout member of the Zion Praise Tabernacle Church, sparked widespread outrage and mourning across the nation’s medical and academic communities earlier this year.