Lembembe's friends discovered his body on Monday evening after being unable to reach him by telephone for two days, and went to his home. They found his front door padlocked on the outside, but could see Lembembe's body lying on his bed through the window. Lembembe's friends alerted the police, who broke down the door. According to one friend, Lembembe's neck and feet appeared to have been broken, and his face, hands, and feet had been burned with an iron.
At the time of his death, he was serving as executive director of the Cameroonian Foundation For AIDS (Camfaids):
Lembembe’s killing follows several acts of vandalism on human rights offices in the area.
Neela Ghoshal, senior HRW LGBT rights researcher, said of Lembembe's death:
We don't know who killed Eric Lembembe, or why he was killed, but one thing is clear: the Cameroonian authorities' utter failure to stem homophobic violence sends the message that these attacks can be carried out with impunity. The police should not rest until the perpetrators of this horrific crime are brought to justice. President Biya should break his silence on the wave of homophobic violence in Cameroon and publicly condemn this brutal attack.
