WARNING: This story comprises descriptions of home violence. Discretion is suggested.
A Sydney, Australia, man has been discovered responsible of murdering a B.C. girl in her residence in 2023.
Danny Zayat was charged with the killing of his ex-girlfriend, 34-year-old Tatiana Dokhotaru. Dokhotaru moved to Australia in 2012, and the couple had a son collectively.
Dokhotaru’s physique was present in an residence within the Liverpool suburb on Could 27, 2023, at some point after she was killed, in keeping with the New South Wales Police Pressure.
In accordance with a pathologist who testified on the trial, Dokhotaru’s explanation for loss of life was blunt power head damage, which the Crown stated was a end result of a number of blows, together with a fall.
Dokhotaru’s good friend, Amber Haleta, travelled to Sydney for the trial and stated that when the decision got here down, she simply began screaming.
“I simply couldn’t assist however, I used to be screaming, leaping up and down,” she informed World Information.
“I knew that this was going to be the decision, however it’s a jury, and also you’re simply making an attempt to persuade 12 individuals of the identical factor. It’s so much tougher than only one decide.”
The court docket heard that Dokhotaru died shortly after her frantic name to Australia’s emergency line was reduce brief, throughout which she informed the operator her ex-boyfriend was making an attempt to kill her.
It took the 12-person jury about three-and-a-half days to return with a majority verdict of 11 to 1.
“We misplaced any individual that’s tremendous particular to us,” Haleta stated.
“She was the sunshine in all of our lives. And home violence actually hits house for me. So it was a fairly large deal.”
After transferring to Australia, Haleta alleges that Dokhotaru quickly started to complain about home abuse and despatched movies of her accidents.
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The mom and son got here again to Vancouver to go to her mother and father in 2022. She then allegedly received a restraining order in opposition to Zayat and moved out of the house they had been sharing, in keeping with Haleta.
However on Could 27, 2023, she was discovered lifeless in her new Sydney, Australia residence. Haleta informed World Information that Dokhotaru’s four-year-old son and estranged husband had been within the house when police arrived.
Their son, now six years previous, testified on the trial.
“I really feel like his mother was, you understand, sprinkling all of the seeds she wanted to and I simply can’t think about what it could be for just a little baby to endure this and be left alone and witness such horrific occasions,” Haleta stated.
“He stated repeatedly, ‘Daddy was very indignant, daddy was very indignant. Daddy put mommy onto the sofa, daddy put mommy onto the sofa.’ He additionally reportedly stated he “‘couldn’t wake mommy up.’”
Haleta stated it was devastating to listen to these phrases come from such a small baby.
“Seeing their final video collectively from the CCTV footage within the foyer the evening it occurred, 20 minutes earlier than the accused confirmed up, was, you understand, she was so comfortable,” she added.
“She was operating, chasing him. It’s simply, it’s horrific. There’s actually no phrases for it.”
The little boy was the one witness within the case.
Haleta additionally testified, speaking about when Dokhotaru returned to Canada for a go to and what they did collectively.
“We went for just a little mini trip collectively, and that’s when the accused was on the cellphone, threatening her life, calling her horrible names,” Haleta stated.
“She was extraordinarily skinny on the time, sort of not consuming, simply miserable.”
Haleta stated your entire ordeal has been arduous on everybody who knew Dokhotaru, however it has been hardest on Dokhotaru’s son.
“I simply couldn’t think about my son not having his mother and father,” she stated. “In order that devastated me, however then her (Dokhotaru) being an solely baby and realizing that her mom misplaced her entire whole world and there’s nothing we are able to do.
“Even the decision doesn’t assist how we’re feeling. All of us haven’t slept. It’s primarily been years of this happening, and we’re lastly capable of breathe just a little, however it nonetheless doesn’t take away the truth that this stunning, shiny, clever, sensible, loving mom, daughter, good friend just isn’t right here anymore.”
Haleta stated she hopes that as her good friend’s son grows older, he is aware of that his mom beloved him greater than life itself.
“That was the happiest day when she turned a mom. She did it with such ease, and he or she would have carried out something on the planet for him … I might positively inform him that she’s extraordinarily proud. All of us are. He’s a superhero, just a little six-year-old superhero.”
Zayat will probably be sentenced in December. A homicide conviction comes with a life sentence in Australia, with parole eligibility to be decided by the decide.
— With information from Rumina Daya, World Information
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
