Fiona Magennis
A 16-year-old boy who stabbed Urantsetseg Tserendorj as she walked home from work in Dublin's city centre has been found guilty of her murder following a retrial at the Central Criminal Court.
The jury of six men and five women returned a majority verdict at the Central Criminal Court on Friday afternoon on what was the fourth day of deliberations in the case.
The accused, who was 14 at the time of the offence and cannot be named because he is a minor, had denied the murder of Ms Tserendorj, but had pleaded guilty to her manslaughter on January 29th, 2021.
The State did not accept his plea.
The jury returned the guilty verdict to Mr Justice Tony Hunt shortly before 12.30pm on Friday afternoon after eight hours and 59 minutes of deliberations.
Mr Justice Hunt thanked the jury for their hard work in the case.
IFSC
Ms Tserendorj, a Mongolian national who lived in Dublin for a number of years, was stabbed in the neck as she walked home from work in Dublin's financial district.
The murder trial at the Central Criminal Court heard Ms Tserendorj was returning home from work at around 9pm on January 20 when she was confronted by the accused asking for money.
When she told him she did not have any money the teenager inflicted the fatal stab wound to her neck which severed her carotid artery.
Ms Tserendorj made her way to Connolly Station where she phoned her husband in distress and told him "I'm dying, please hurry".
She had been on her way home from work at 9.30pm when the stabbing occurred.
By the time she arrived at the Mater Hospital Ms Tserendorj was struggling to breath.
Life support
The injury led to a catastrophic lack of oxygen to the brain and Ms Tserendorj remained on life support at the Mater Hospital for a number of days until her death.
The trial also heard the teen again produced a knife later that evening after he tried and failed to steal a phone from a second woman a short time later.
The court heard the teen admitted stabbing Ms Tserendorj when gardaí called to his home in relation to a different matter on January 21st.
'I done it'
Garda David O'Callaghan gave evidence that he attended the home of the accused with a search warrant in response to a complaint about the theft of an electric pedal cycle.
The accused told gardaí: "I panicked and pulled the knife out of my pocket and stabbed her in the neck. I done it. I didn't mean to do it. I'm sorry for it."
Sean Guerin SC, for the State, had contended the accused lashed out at Ms Tserendorj repeatedly in a "callous, unprovoked and vicious act of thuggery" that was intended to cause injury.
Lawyers for the accused told jurors the teenager intended to rob but not kill the mother-of-two.
Defence counsel Michael O'Higgins SC argued the appropriate verdict was not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Mr Justice Hunt personally thanked the jury for their diligence in the case which he described as "very unpleasant".
Following the verdict, the judge remanded the teenager in custody for sentence to 10.30am on December 21st.
Members of the boy's family were in tears as the verdict was announced.
This is the second time this year the teen had gone on trial for murder.
The jury in the first trial, which took at the Central Criminal Court in April, was unable to reach a verdict.
