A man has appeared in court accused of murdering his carer, a nurse who arrived in the UK from Kenya two years earlier.
David Walsh, 34, denied killing Irene Mbugua, 46, a single mother of four.
She was found dead by police officers at a property in Markby Road in the Winson Green area of Birmingham shortly before 1am on June 23 last year.
A post-mortem examination revealed she died as a result of serious head and face injuries.
Walsh appeared by video link from HMP Birmingham on Tuesday wearing a prison-issue grey tracksuit to enter his not guilty plea.
Walsh, of Markby Road, was told his trial will start on February 23.
David Walsh, 34, appeared in court on Tuesday where he denied killing Irene Mbugua, 46, a single mother of four.
A JustGiving page set up to help Ms Mbugua’s relatives with funeral costs said she moved to the UK from Kenya to work in care two years before she was ‘brutally murdered …while at work’.
Organisers said her four children had been ‘left without their breadwinner’.
In a tribute issued after Ms Mbugua’s death, her family said: ‘We are so lost without you and we pray for grace to face each day, mum.
‘Your beautiful smile and hearty laughter will be missed.
‘Please just remind us on how to join the dots because we don’t have a map yet. Rest easy you remain in our hearts forever.’
Friends said Ms Mbugua moved to the UK ‘to work hard and give her children a better life’ and in a short time became loved at work and in her community.
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Patient, 34, accused of murdering his carer, a mother of 4 who had arrived in UK from Kenya 2 years earlier