A Kampala court on April 30 imposed the death penalty on 39-year-old Christopher Okello Onyum after finding him guilty of killing four young children in an attack at a nursery school on April 2.
The judge cited material recovered from the accused's phone and laptop during the investigation, saying investigators found searches for "schools near me" and for "ISIS beheading" - the latter a reference to the Islamic State group. The judge concluded those searches indicated preparation for the assault.
The killings occurred at a nursery in Uganda's capital, where Onyum stabbed four toddlers, aged two and three, before a school guard succeeded in subduing him, according to court accounts. Parents at the scene attempted to lynch him prior to his detention, the records state.
Throughout the trial Onyum pleaded not guilty to murder. One of his lawyers maintained that he had been mentally unstable for an extended period and had been committed to a psychiatric hospital, arguing that his mental state warranted acquittal.
"I have no doubt in my mind that the search for 'ISIS beheading' prepared the accused person to launch this fatal attack," Judge Alice Komuhangi Khaukha said when delivering the sentence.
The judge dismissed the defence assertion of insanity, saying the attack - which the court noted took less than seven minutes - reflected deliberate planning. The court also noted that during the trial Onyum was observed laughing while in the dock; his lawyer said that behaviour was evidence of mental illness.
Although the sentence imposed was death, the court and public commentary reflect the context that Uganda retains capital punishment for serious crimes such as murder, while the country has not carried out an execution in roughly two decades.
The case has sparked public outrage and heightened concern about the safety of pupils at educational institutions in the East African nation. The court's findings emphasized electronic search activity as central evidence supporting a determination of premeditation, while the defence continued to press the view that long-term mental instability should affect criminal responsibility.
Key factual elements from the trial include the defendant's age, the April 2 attack at a Kampala nursery, the ages of the victims, the recovered searches on the accused's devices, the rejected insanity defence, the judge's statement linking the searches to preparation, and the imposition of a death sentence despite the country's long lapse since its last execution.