In June 2022, Kenya roared with pride as Maxine Wahome, a fearless young rally driver blazed through Naivasha’s rugged terrain to clinch victory in the World Rally Championship (WRC3).
She became the first Kenyan woman to achieve such a feat, shattering the sport’s gender barrier with breathtaking speed.
Maxine, known in motorsport circles as the “Riding Queen”, had built a name for herself with grit and sheer speed.
But just six months later, that same name would dominate headlines, not from a finish line, but a police blotter.
On December 12, 2022, Maxine was arrested at an apartment in a Nairobi estate, allegedly after assaulting and inflicting serious injuries on her boyfriend, fellow rally driver and mechanic Asad Khan, who later succumbed to his wounds at a city hospital.
What had begun as a romantic partnership grounded in a shared passion for motorsport has since devolved into a high-stakes legal battle at the High Court in Nairobi, a gripping case that has shocked the nation and laid bare uncomfortable truths about domestic violence, fame, and tragedy.
Maxine was no stranger to speed. She began her motorsport journey in teenage motocross, racking up accolades swiftly, including multiple “Lady Rider of the Year” awards in Kenya. By 2021, she had graduated to buggies and eventually rally cars.
By the time she claimed the WRC3 Safari Rally title in 2022, she was already being heralded as a rising global star.
Asad, a more seasoned rally driver and mechanic, was instrumental in Maxine’s rise.
Their professional relationship soon blossomed into a personal one, leading to a romantic involvement.
Asad not only provided mechanical expertise but also helped Maxine navigate the sport’s often unforgiving sponsorship terrain.
For 18 months, they cohabited in a rented apartment in Kileleshwa, Nairobi, sharing both their love for motorsport and their lives.
Their families, united by a shared passion for rallying, were once close-knit, celebrating victories and milestones together.
The night of December 11, 2022, would prove to be the turning point in their story.
Maxine had attended a dinner party earlier in the evening of the eve of Jamhuri Day of 2022.
What happened after she returned home is now the subject of intense scrutiny before the Milimani High Court Criminal Division.
According to Asad’s brother, Adil Khan, the altercation resulted in Asad sustaining severe head and leg injuries.
Adil alleges that Maxine came home intoxicated and, during the ensuing confrontation, inflicted injuries on Asad, including a deep cut on his right leg just above the ankle, head trauma and neck.
“He had serious injuries, there was blood everywhere,” Adil told investigators immediately after he reported the incident.
The lead investigating officer of the murder incident, Corporal Diana Angote had told the court that immediately after the incident, Maxine attempted to flee.
Khan, 50, died on December 18, 2022 at Avenue Hospital Nairobi following fatal injuries inflicted on him on the night of December 11 and 12, 2022 at his apartment in Kileleshwa.
According to court documents in the ongoing murder trial, while seeking to deny her bail, Officer Angote stated that Asad was assaulted by Maxine.
The police investigator, in the court filings, said that immediately after the incident, Maxine attempted to flee from the scene and kept away from Asad when he was in the hospital and never attended the burial.
A post-mortem report by government pathologist Peter Ndegwa noted that the cause of death was “septicemia” due to multiple injuries inflicted by both sharp and blunt force trauma.
The investigator adds that Maxine, in a bid to shield herself, called her parents as the first responders to the incident and shielded the Asad’s family from the specifics of the incident.
However, Maxine told the court that she was the victim of an abusive relationship.
Her lawyer Philip Murgor told the court that on the material day, Asad was violent and had ordered her to leave his house immediately.
“In the process, he attacked me and I took refuge on the balcony of the apartment where he attempted to break down the door using his feet. Asad thereafter injured himself on the balcony door window panes and took himself to the hospital and I was advised by my parents not to leave the house and wait for the police,” Maxine stated in her affidavit during the hearing of her bail application.
She said she was arrested on December 13 and detained at Kilimani police station for investigations over the death of Asad following a report by his family. While seeking bail, Murgor contended that Maxine was preparing to leave Asad due to his controlling behaviour and financial exploitation.
He alleged that Asad and his brother took control of her sponsorship funds, leaving her financially strained.
Maxine, who is currently out on Sh2 million bond, however, maintains that she was the victim that night.
A video clip played in the ongoing murder trial against Maxine before the High Court in September 2023 shows an emotional Maxine narrating to her father and detectives how she was assaulted by her late lover Asad, before he died.
Quiet person
From the clip, the rally driver is heard crying, “Daddy, he cut himself. He kicked the window. I was the one who was beaten up.”
The clip is part of the evidence relied on by the Maxine defense.
It was introduced when one of the prosecution witnesses told the court that he went to Kileleshwa police station and came with the officers to Assad’s house after finding him lying in a pool of blood.
Samuel Kimani told trial Judge Lillian Mutende that Asad was alive before he went to seek help from the police.
“He was lying there, mumbling. I heard him say, ‘babe’,” said the witness.
Kimani was a neighbour to Asad and chairman of the Kileleshwa Preston Court Residents Association.
He described Asad as a quiet person “but a totally different character when you get to know the other side of him.”
On occasion, the guards had told him of violent incidents in Assad’s house.
“Not once, not twice but multiple times, for the 10 years I have stayed there. The nature of the fracas has always involved a woman and him,” Kimani said.
Kimani said Asad had been a violent person to all his girlfriends; that he was a serial woman beater.
He confirmed what the prosecution’s first witness said, that Asad had six to seven girlfriends and he subjected them to violent acts.
In October 2024, Maxine’s mother, Beverly Wahome, took the witness stand in a highly emotional testimony.
She recounted receiving a distressing video call from her daughter on the night of the incident.
“She was screaming for help,” Beverly told the court, visibly shaken.
“She said, ‘Mum, please call the police. Come now!’”
According to Beverly, she could see Asad in the background, bleeding profusely. Her daughter appeared terrified.
Eight days before Beverly’s testimony, the trial court had witnessed another key testimony. Hussein Moosajee of Avenue Hospital took the stand to explain the medical complications that led to Asad’s death on December 18, 2022, six days after the incident.
The doctor was called to testify in a bid to shed light on the complex medical factors that contributed to the tragedy which has left two families in anguish and has gripped the nation for nearly three years.
Dr Moosajee told the court that Asad, who had sustained a cut wound on his right leg, suffered significant blood loss.
“Asad lost a lot of blood. The injury to his leg wasn’t the automatic cause of his death,” Moosajee told the court.
His statement provided a fresh perspective on the cause of Asad’s demise, suggesting that the injury itself may not have been fatal, but rather, complications arising afterward played a significant role in his deteriorating health.
The doctor described a critically ill patient who had been transferred from Nairobi Hospital, where he had already suffered a cardiac arrest.
Maxine’s trial is not just a murder case, it is a window into broader societal issues in Kenya: the pressures of fame, the gendered lens through which violence is perceived, and the shortcomings in healthcare that may have cost a life.
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