Model may have been killed by domestic worker, police say

A prominent Rwandan model found dead in her parent’s home may have been killed by a domestic worker, according to police.

Alexia Mupende, 35, was found dead with stab wounds on Tuesday at her family’s home in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital.

“It was around 7.30 p.m. local time, her body was found on the bed. The suspect is the family’s domestic help or house boy, his name is Niyireba Antione. Police are still looking for him,” police spokesman John Bosco Kabera said.

Kabera said the suspect fled the home that night, and his whereabouts remain unknown. Mupende was due to get married next month, according to local media.

Tributes have poured in for Mupende who was described as a warm and hardworking person. Hundreds of fans gathered outside her parents’ house to pay their respects.

As I am mourning @alexiamupende, I want to see the murderer/s brought to justice and I trust @Rwandapolice and @RIB_Rw to do their job well as usual. Strength is what I pray for her family and army of friends. #RIPAlexia

— Urukundo Rugumaho (@ArianeRugumaho) January 10, 2019

Mupende had lived in Kenya and Uganda before moving back to her native Rwanda, where she studied business information and technology, the reports said.

In a poem paying tribute to the model, Hope Azeda, the founder of a local arts group with which Mupende had collaborated for years, described the her as “beautiful and eloquent.”

A dark night befalls!
Soft spoken like rising dawn
Endlessly tender
As Beautiful as ever
Soft and calm yet eloquent
A heart whose love is innocent
Never heard you yell
Why would anyone dare do the heartless .absolute coward.
Rest well beutiful… we will miss you dearly pic.twitter.com/gOFUGxp1iR

— Hope Azeda (@HopeAzeda) January 8, 2019