Liverpool woman’s dad slams police response to triple-0 call

By Kylie Stevens and Tita Smith For Daily Mail Australia

00:38 31 May 2023, updated 00:40 31 May 2023

Tatiana Dokhotaru found dead in Liverpool unit
Parents learned about her death social media
Slammed police response as ‘disappointing

The grief-stricken father of a young woman found dead in her home almost a day after she made a frantic triple-0 call has demanded answers from police as he recalled how he and his wife learned about the tragic news on social news.

Tatiana ‘Tania’ Dokhotaru, 34, was found dead inside her Liverpool unit, in Sydney’s south-west, about 8pm on Saturday – almost 24 hours after she called triple-0 begging for help alleging her partner was ‘bashing’ her.

Her estranged partner Danny Zayat, 28, was arrested at the scene on Saturday and has been charged with a litany of offences – including choking and breaching an AVO – which allegedly occurred in the lead up to her death.

No charges have been laid in relation to Ms Dokhotaru’s death.

Tatiana’s devastated parents Olga Dokhotaru and Dennis Thievin believe she may still be alive today if officers went to her apartment the night she rang for help and have labelled their response as disappointing.

Based in Canada, the couple found out about their daughter’s death ‘not nicely’ through social media.

Tatiana Dokhotaru (pictured) was found dead in her Liverpool unit almost 24 hours after she made a frantic call to triple-0

‘Pretty horrific,’ Mr Thievin told Sunrise on Wednesday.

‘My wife last spoke to her on last Wednesday of last week and since we typically hear from her every day or every other day, we knew that something was wrong because we hadn’t heard and we could not reach her.

‘On what would be Monday morning for me, I went to the site for the police station in Sydney and I read the news that there was a 34-year-old woman who had been found and it unfolded from there, that’s how we found out.’

It took police four hours to respond to the triple-0 call. Initially there were unable to find Ms Dokhotaru’s unit because the call did not include enough information such as the apartment number.

NSW Police has launched a critical investigation into the police response, which was slammed by Mr Thievin.

‘If this had happened in Canada, which where we live, I suppose I would venture to say that it is an arrogant behaviour,’ he fumed.

‘Since when does somebody make a frantic call close to midnight and you more or less ignore it?

‘I realise they went to the premises but they must have been aware that there was somebody in those premises, they should have been banging on doors if necessary, because surely they understood that something bad could be going on.

‘I am very disappointed in all of that. Tania could be alive today had they done what they should have done.’

Tatiana’s dad Dennis Thievin (pictured) is disappointed in the lack of urgency of the police response

A critical incident investigation has been launched into the police response time. Pictured are tributes outside the Liverpool apartment complex

Mr Thievin added his wife was having a real hard time dealing with their daughter’s death.

They had previously begged her to go to the police over Zayat’s alleged behaviour.

Mr Thievin claimed on Wednesday that his daughter recently sent him a video that allegedly showed bruises on her neck.

‘We just never in a million years thought it would unfold like this,’ he said.

‘It’s not supposed to be like that and unless it ever happened to you before, you don’t expect it to happen to your family but it happened. It is a horrible, horrible thing.’

Also found in the unit was the couple’s young son, on the eve of his fourth birthday.

Tania’s parents Olga Dokhotaru and Denis Thievin (pictured with Tania, left) believe she may still be alive if they had got to her apartment quicker

Danny Zayat has been charged with a raft of domestic violence offences after his former partner Tatiana ‘Tania’ Dokhotaru, 34, was found dead on Saturday. The pair are pictured together in 2021

Forensic investigators on Tuesday were seen scouring the rooftops of neighbouring buildings to the Pinnacle apartment complex as the search for evidence continues.

Friends told Daily Mail Australia Ms Dokhotaru, a Russian national who migrated Down Under around 10 years ago, was a ‘beautiful and hardworking’ mum.

They said she last week returned from a seven-day holiday in Thailand with her son and had just launched an online business renting out designer clothing for some side cash while she cared for her little boy full-time.

‘He was a mummy’s boy. She did everything for him. They were always together,’ one friend said.

A neighbour also reported hearing her child making a ‘distressed’ scream about 2pm on Saturday – around six hours before her body was discovered.

Ms Dokhotaru’s death has sparked public outrage, with many people flocking online to condemn the handling of her distressed call for help.

NSW Premier Chris Minns has called for a thorough investigation into the police response to Ms Dokhotaru’s triple-0 call.

He called for calm to allow the police to conduct their investigation into the ‘traumatic incident’.

Zayat is next due to appear before Liverpool Local Court on Friday.

Ms Dokhotaru had just launched a designer brand rental business in the days before her death

HOW DANNY ZAYAT’S MONDAY COURT HEARING UNFOLDED

Danny Zayat faced Liverpool Local Court on Monday charged with a raft of offences including intimidation and destroying or damaging property.

The court was told that Zayat was now facing more than a dozen new charges, including domestic-violence-related choking without consent, assault occasioning bodily harm, and common assault.

Court documents reveal Mr Zayat’s history of alleged domestic violence dating back to 2021.

Police allege Zayat assaulted Ms Dokhotaru in St Marys and again months later in Leichhardt, causing her actual bodily harm.

Years later, Zayat is alleged to have contravened orders of an AVO and assaulted Ms Dokhotaru while the pair were in Liverpool on April 13, 2023. He was charged with causing her actual bodily harm over the alleged incident.

In the days following, Zayat is alleged to have again breached the court order and was charged for intentionally choking Ms Dokhotaru without her consent.

On May 1, Zayat is alleged by police to have assaulted his partner in Liverpool and to have choked her without her consent.

Two days before his arrest and the discovery of Ms Dokhotaru’s body, Zayat is alleged to have destroyed his partner’s TV, while breaching an AVO and causing fear.

Zayat was refused bail on Monday to reappear before the same court on Friday.

Lawyer Talal Krayem said Mr Zayat would be making a bid for release on bail at that date.

Police are looking at how Ms Dokhotaru died, and no charges relating to her death have been made.