NANYUKI — Sylvester Muigai Ndung'u died during clashes between police and demonstrators protesting a planned U.S. Ebola quarantine center at Laikipia Air Base. His mother, Lucy Kagure, discovered his body in a mortuary in Nanyuki two days after he went missing.

Ndung'u had left his home to collect a school uniform from his aunt prior to the unrest. His body was initially listed under an unidentified designation at the mortuary. Kagure said, "When I found him, half of his head had been split open. His clothes were soaked in blood."

Clashes began after police blocked access to the protest site. Police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds. Protesters erected roadblocks and lit bonfires across parts of Nanyuki. Ndung'u is the third person to die during protests against the planned quarantine facility. Kagure said police used excessive force.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission accused police of using excessive force during the demonstrations, alleging the use of live ammunition and arbitrary arrests. Local police commander Daniel Kitavi stated authorities are awaiting a post-mortem examination to determine the exact cause of death. U.S. administration officials acknowledged awareness of the Kenya's High Court case regarding the facility. Kenya's High Court ordered the opening of the facility to be halted last month, following a legal case alleging the center posed risks to public health.

Satellite imagery indicates construction at the military base continued after the court halt. President William Ruto stated Kenya received a U.S. request to establish the quarantine center and characterized a refusal of the request as inhumane. The isolation unit at Laikipia Air Base is designed with 50 beds and is intended for U.S. citizens affected by the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kagure, a single mother who earned 300 Kenyan shillings a day doing casual work, said, "I brought him up from nursery school to form three, and then they just killed him."