Photographs taken Oct 23 2012, of the general scene near Winchester and Ontario Sts. in Cabbagetown where Nighisti Semret was stabbed to death. Adonay Zekarias, 42, is facing one count of murder for her death, as well as another count for the death of Rigat Essag Ghirmay.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
A man accused in the grisly stabbing death of a Toronto hotel worker nearly three years ago has been found guilty of first-degree murder.
Adonay Zekarias had pleaded not guilty in the death of 55-year-old Nighisti Semret.
Crown prosecutors had told the jury hearing the case that Semret was attacked in a laneway by a man who stabbed her seven times.
The jury heard that Semret, a mother of three, fought for her life — the blood of her attacker was found under her fingernails — but died of her wounds in hospital less than an hour after the stabbing.
The Crown 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, and went to English lessons together for a time.
Crown lawyers were unable, however, to provide a motive for the killing.