Man who fended off attacker testifies at Toronto murder trial

TORONTO – A man who fended off the person who stabbed a Toronto hotel worker to death nearly three years ago is telling a court about the blood-curdling screams he heard on the day.

David Hughes says he was walking in an east downtown neighbourhood early on a rainy morning in October 2012 when he heard the piercing shrieks of a woman in distress and ran towards them.

He says he found two figures in a laneway – a woman on the ground and a man with a knife crouched over her. Hughes says he yelled at the man, who then stood up, spun around and jabbed his knife at Hughes.

READ MORE: Man charged with murder of Nighisti Semret, police still searching for motive

Hughes says he swung his umbrella repeatedly at the man, who dropped his knife, then scrambled to pick it up and fled.

Hughes says he then asked the moaning woman on the ground if she had been stabbed, to which she replied, “yes.”

Adonay Zekarias has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of 55-year-old Nighisti Semret.

Hughes says when he and a policeman looked over Semret, they found a number of stab wounds.

“The blood was just pumping out of her back,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "The blood was just pumping out of her back," he said.

Crown prosecutors have told the jury hearing the case that Semret was stabbed seven times and died in hospital less than an hour after the attack.

They’ve alleged her death was a “planned and deliberate” murder.

While they don’t have a motive, crown prosecutors have said Semret and Zekarias knew each other – they were both refugees from the North African country of Eritrea, had once lived in the same refugee shelter for a time, and went to English lessons together.