Life imprisonment for USA man who killed Motswana wife
A United States of America (USA) man, Omnisun Azali, who killed his Motswana wife, Ruth Mwaka Azali in May last year in Cleveland, Ohio has been sentenced to life in prison.
Sentencing was passed in the US last week in the presence of Ruth’s family who had travelled all the way from Botswana to America to witness if justice would be served for one of their own.
Azali, who is an Iraq war veteran and also son of a Judge, was charged with the murder of his wife after he shot her three times in the head at their family home.
During trial, Omnisun did not deny having killed Ruth but said he did so in self- defense. He claimed Ruth fired at him first following an argument at their home.
Despite his reasons, court found Ominisun guilty of killing his wife. Not only did he kill her but repeatedly shot her with the last bullet believed to have been shot with the gun pressed onto the victim’s cheek.
The killer was sentenced to life in prison and will only be eligible for parole after 21 years.
Ruth’s sister, Rebecca Tawana, who was unavailable for comment this week but had spoken to The Midweek Sun in a previous interview, told court how the family was hurting because of what happened to her sister.
All they wanted for Ruth was justice, believing that whatever sentence passed will not bring back her sister.
During trial, it was revealed that Ruth was found lying in a pool of blood on a couch at their home, where the shooting happened.
A gun was found a few feet from her body and her DNA on the trigger. There were also three bullet holes from the gun in the walls of the home.
Prosecutors revealed that Azali shot Ruth twice on the head while he was standing a few feet from her. They said the last bullet was shot with the gun pressed onto her cheek. They also questioned why Omnisun rushed to his mother’s house after shooting his wife instead of calling the police.
His Judge mother, according to court, is the one who informed the police that there might have been shootings at her son’s house and someone might be injured.
She then drove her son to his home where they found that the police had already arrived, Omnisun was then arrested. During sentence, Omnisun’s mother was present to support her son.
The couple’s two children aged eight and nine - a boy and a girl, also testified in court. The kids are alleged to have been home when their mother was killed. Both kids told court that they saw their father holding a gun and not their mother.
The trial came to an end on the 9th of November 2022 with sentencing handed down a week later.