Keziah Macharia knelt in blood-soaked clothes after allegedly killing her son Kobi, 4, in their Hackney home

Britain is once again confronting the unthinkable after a mother allegedly stabbed her four-year-old son to death in a fit of jealous rage and psychological collapse, hours after watching him beam on stage during his school nativity.

In a revelation that has stunned London and left a community reeling, Keziah Macharia stands accused of murdering her young son, Kobi Dooly-Macharia, inside their Hackney flat, then calmly messaging his father three icy words: “Kobi is dead.”

The horrific crime unfolded on what should have been a night of parental pride and celebration. Just hours earlier, Kobi had taken part in a school nativity, charming both parents with his joy and innocence. But behind the smiles, tensions between his separated parents were rapidly escalating.

Fuelled by jealousy, resentment, and what appears to be a mental breakdown, Macharia bombarded Kobi’s father, Ben Dooly, with a series of bitter WhatsApp messages. In them, she railed against his new relationship and accused his partner of destroying their family.

Then, as the evening wore on, her tone turned darker. “I hate you both,” she wrote in a final message. Moments later, police forced entry to the flat on Montague Road, responding to an urgent welfare call.

Inside, they found a scene of utter carnage. Macharia was kneeling in the living room, her clothes drenched in blood. A knife lay nearby. In the bedroom, the tiny body of four-year-old Kobi was found in his cot, lifeless. He had suffered dozens of stab wounds and showed signs of attempted strangulation—a scene officers later described as one of the most harrowing they had ever encountered.

The first to receive news of the atrocity was Kobi’s father, via the chilling message sent from Macharia’s phone. He had last seen his son alive just hours earlier, beaming under nativity lights.

Neighbours and relatives described the ongoing conflict between the estranged parents. Court proceedings have heard that Macharia had become increasingly erratic in the months leading up to the tragedy, driven by bitterness over custody issues and Ben’s new relationship.

During her arrest, Macharia appeared emotionally detached. She reportedly murmured, “I just want my baby back,” and repeatedly asked to see his face.

Psychiatrists have since ruled her unfit to stand trial for murder. Instead, a fact-finding hearing will attempt to piece together the circumstances that led to Kobi’s brutal death. The court will seek to establish whether Macharia committed the act and in what state of mind.

The incident has sparked a wave of mourning and fury across Hackney and beyond. Tributes to Kobi have poured in, with mourners leaving teddy bears, flowers, and candles outside the flat. “He was a beautiful boy,” one neighbour said. “We all saw him grow up here.”

The tragedy casts a grim spotlight on the devastating consequences of untreated mental health issues and domestic tension left to fester. As London once again grapples with the aftermath of a child’s senseless death, questions mount about the systems that failed to prevent this unfathomable act.

For now, a father grieves, a community mourns, and a nation asks: how could a mother turn so tragically against her own child?