Esther Arunga drops husband’s name years after son’s death case

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 – Former television presenter Esther Arunga Timberlake has reverted to her former name, Esther Adongo Arunga, years after adopting the Timberlake name following her marriage to Quincy Timberlake.

A notice published in the Kenya Gazette states that Arunga formally renounced the name Esther Adongo Timberlake and adopted Esther Adongo Arunga for all purposes.

Gazette Notice No. 16203 says she executed a deed poll dated October 2, 2026, which was registered at the Registry of Documents in Nairobi.

The notice requests that members of the public identify and address her exclusively by her new name.

Arunga’s name change comes years after she was convicted in Australia in connection with the 2014 death of her three-year-old son, Sinclair Timberlake.

In July 2019, she was sentenced to 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to being an accessory to her son’s murder by lying to police about the circumstances surrounding his death. She was immediately released on parole.

Esther Arunga gets 10 months jail-term on parole over son’s murder

Court proceedings heard that Arunga initially told emergency responders that Sinclair had fallen down a staircase at the family’s home in Australia. She later told investigators that her husband had assaulted the child.

According to the Australian Associated Press, prosecutors said Arunga had diverted attention from her husband for almost a month before changing her account.

Sinclair died on June 18, 2014. An autopsy found that he had died from severe blunt force trauma, according to reports of the court proceedings.

Quincy Timberlake was separately charged with the boy’s murder.

The Gazette notice does not state why Arunga has chosen to revert to her former name.