On Tuesday, a Kenyan nurse was stabbed to death in North Carolina, USA, while performing her duties at a mental health care facility.

June Onkundi, a nurse practitioner from Kisii County who worked in Durham City, died after being attacked with a knife by a mentally ill patient she was caring for, killing her on the spot.

Later, police arrived and arrested the suspect.

Local TV stations described the suspected murderer, James Gomes, 47, as a serial criminal who has allegedly spent more than half of his life in prison and was recently released after serving time for other criminal violations.

According to ABC 11, a local television station in Raleigh, the deceased was a "mother, wife, sister, cousin, and a psychiatric nurse practitioner, Jane Onkundi was the epitome of love, taken too soon while doing exactly what she loved."

"It is very painful for us as family members because we are saddened that the same very population she had the passion and desire to help is the one that finally took her away from us and left us now grieving with four children and a husband," said Andrew Nyabwari, the slain nurse's brother-in-law.

The incident occurred at the Freedom House Recovery Center, a psychiatric facility where police were called to respond to an emergency but found the Kenyan nurse dead.

"I am perplexed because a workplace is supposed to provide safety mechanisms for staff members to be safe just to ensure that another family member does not go through the pain that we are going through today," Mr Nyabwari explained.

The deceased, who had a Master's degree in Psychiatric Nursing, was about to begin her PhD program at Duke University, North America's leading research university.

In the United States, a nurse practitioner is an assistant doctor who is licensed to prescribe medication and perform medical diagnoses.

Serial misogynistic offender
Mr. Gomes was described by WRAL TV station as a misogynist and an incorrigible criminal who had previously been charged with targeting women in the area.

"The suspect has a history of attacking women," said Sarah Kruger, a reporter for a Raleigh, North Carolina, television station.

According to court records, Mr Gomes had spent more than a third of his life in prison.

"Each time he is released from prison, it is only a matter of months before he is back behind bars." "Gomes was convicted of attempted rape and kidnapping in 2006," Ms Kruger said on TV, citing government and court records.

According to North Carolina authorities, Mr Gomes was arrested while working as a janitor at a local elementary school for attempting to rape a coworker with a knife and threatening to slit her throat.

Gomes was also released from prison in 2018, according to authorities. However, the suspect was charged and convicted of kidnapping and strangling a woman nine months later.

According to court records, the suspect was released from prison four months ago, prompting his latest crime of murder.

Fellow nurses were outraged by the killing, demanding answers from authorities and increased safety precautions at their workplaces.

The killing has sent shockwaves across the United States, where many Kenyan immigrants work as nurses.

The North Carolina Nurses Association demanded that authorities explain the safety flaws that resulted in the death of the nurse practitioner.

Kenyans condemned the killing on social media and urged their colleagues in the mental health field to exercise caution.