<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A young child told police of hearing screams while in bed before waking the next day to find a woman dead on a couch.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Tatiana "Tanya" Dokhotaru, 34, was pronounced dead by paramedics attending her apartment in south-west </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/sydney" rel="" target="" title="Sydney"><span>Sydney</span></a><span> on a Saturday in May 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her ex-partner Danny Zayat, 30, has been accused of murdering her the day before, shortly after she made a triple-zero call.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/trump-world-leader-infamous-meetings-albanese-putin-zelenskyy-starmer/41af8424-b1ba-42fd-b61e-e55320339608" target="_blank"><strong><span>What history tells us about how Trump-Albanese meeting may unfold</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A NSW Supreme Court jury has heard of threats, abuse and violence during the volatile relationship.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Footage of police interviews with a young child, who found the business owner's body in the Liverpool complex, was played to jurors today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In interviews conducted the day after Dokhotaru's death, the child - who cannot be legally identified - told officers they found the 34-year-old on the couch with blood coming out of her nose.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/danny-zayat-court-updates-child-heard-tatiana-dokhotaru-cry-for-help-before-finding-her-dead-court-told/9e1bf4ce-c53f-4305-a5d8-85c8ff68ca04" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/china-hong-kong-cargo-aircraft-skidded-off-airport-runway-into-the-sea-two-confirmed-dead/0376b501-09ec-412f-aec1-efa16f6135b4" target="_blank"><strong><span>Two dead after cargo plane skids off runway into sea at one of Asia's busiest airports</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The child tried to rouse Dokhotaru before Zayat arrived and called police and paramedics.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"No waking up," the youngster said during the interview.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Officers were told about an argument between the couple the previous night when a television and glass flower vase were broken.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The child was again interviewed in September 2025, telling police there had been no blood on Dokhotaru.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They said they heard the woman "screaming ... 'help me, help me'."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During questioning today, the child said Zayat did not break the television or vase but he had been "fake crying" when police arrived.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He was crying but he wasn't sad," the child told defence barrister Madeleine Avenell SC.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jurors also heard of injuries and threats to Dokhotaru in the year before she died.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/louvre-museum-robbery-what-we-know/963154c2-d75c-4f49-83bf-a629327a079a" target="_blank"><strong><span>What we know about the four-minute Louvre robbery</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her mother Olya Dokhotaru and stepfather Denis Thievin, who both live in Canada, recounted their daughter's visit in 2022 during which she spoke to Zayat almost daily over the phone.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Olya said she heard the concreter threaten to kill his ex-partner if she didn't return home, while calling her a "f------ fat slut" and a "white f------ bitch".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I can't imagine that a young man can speak like that with his wife," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Thievin said there was a lot of screaming during these calls and his stepdaughter was typically crying.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These were not pleasant phone calls," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When Dokhotaru returned to Australia, she moved into an apartment instead of a house so she could be around neighbours for safety, the court heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Weeks before she was found dead, the 34-year-old sent a video to her mother - played to the court - which showed bruises around her throat.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You can see the fingerprints around her neck," Olya said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The day before her body was discovered, Dokhotaru told her mother via text that she was at the doctor with "bad bruising".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said she had fallen over her vacuum cleaner and hit the table.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Zayat has pleaded not guilty to murder, denying his involvement in his ex-partner's death or being responsible for any physical violence towards her in their relationship.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He faces an alternative charge of manslaughter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The concreter called triple zero the day after her alleged murder, attempted CPR, and was seen crying and wailing when police attended the Liverpool unit.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He said Dokhotaru previously expressed thoughts of suicide and had been depressed when he left her the night before.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>An autopsy revealed she died from blunt-force head trauma.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Her death was hastened but not caused by various substances in her system, the jury heard.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The trial continues tomorrow.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Support is available by calling 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732, Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Men's Referral Service on 1300 766 491.</span></strong></div></div>