Staff Sgt. John Mwangi, 42, was arrested and charged in the Feb. 21, 2025, shooting death of his wife, Sgt. Esther Gitau, 27, in Killeen, Texas. Both soldiers were assigned to Fort Cavazos. (Bell County Jail)
AUSTIN, Texas — A Fort Cavazos soldier has been arrested and charged in the killing of his wife, also a soldier assigned to the Texas base, according to local police.
Staff Sgt. John Mwangi, 42, was arrested Friday in connection to the shooting death of his wife, Sgt. Esther Gitau, 37, but the Killeen Police Department has offered little information about the circumstances of the incident.
Mwangi is charged with first-degree murder, according to online court records. That charge is still pending an indictment by a grand jury.
Police said they found Gitau in her Killeen home on Lakecrest Drive with multiple gunshot wounds at about 7:16 p.m. Friday while conducting a welfare check. She was pronounced dead about two hours later.
The home is roughly five miles from the sprawling central Texas base where the couple was assigned to different units.
Two children were also found in the home and were unaware of what had happened, according to police.
Police then issued an arrest warrant for Mwangi, who was found and arrested at Fort Cavazos. He was listed Wednesday as an inmate at Bell County Jail.
Bell County’s court docket on Wednesday did not list any hearing dates or an attorney for Mwangi.
Gitau was a food safety inspector assigned to the 1st Medical Brigade, base officials said. She had previously served at Naval Station Norfolk, Va., and Fort Knox, Ky.
“I am deeply saddened by the loss of Sgt. Esther Gitau, a valued member of our 1st Medical Brigade family,” Col. Werner Barden, commander of the 1st Medical Brigade, said in a statement. “Sgt. Gitau was an exceptional soldier who will be missed by all who knew her.”
Gitau’s awards include the Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, according to Fort Cavazos.
Mwangi was assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, according to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Cavazos. Army photos posted online show Mwangi previously served at Fort Eustis, Va., as an instructor.
Army Staff Sgt. John Mwangi, a 1st Battalion, 210th Aviation Regiment instructor at Fort Eustis, Va., cuts grass during a Unity through Community event in May 2021. (George Prince/U.S. Army)
