Four minors charged over killing of 19-year-old Destao Tzakul in Beersheba in April

Suspects aged 15 to 17 allegedly hit victim with an iron rod until he fell, stabbed him while he was down, then tried to remove the evidence

Prosecutors indicted four minors at the Beersheba District Court on Thursday over the killing of 19-year-old Destao Tzakul in April.

The suspects, who as minors cannot legally be identified, knew the victim before the attack, prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, Tzakul was outside his home in the early hours of April 24 when “Defendant A,” 16, contacted the other defendants with the goal of attacking him.

“Defendant A” and “Defendant B,” 17, arrived on the scene armed with knives, while “Defendant C” and “Defendant D,” respectively aged 16 and 15, came with iron rods, prosecutors said. Tzakul was sitting with a friend, listening to music and drinking when he was attacked. His friend fled.

After “Defendant C” hit him with an iron rod, Tzakul tried to escape, but tripped and fell to the ground, and was then stabbed by “Defendant A” and “Defendant B,” prosecutors said. Afterward, all four suspects allegedly fled and also sought to remove evidence of the crime.

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“Defendant A” and “Defendant B” were charged with intentional murder; “Defendant C” was charged with negligent murder; and “Defendant D” was charged with causing death with diminished responsibility. All four were also charged with possession of a knife and obstruction of justice.

Tzakul was killed just two days after minors in Petah Tikva killed 21-year-old Yemanu Zelka on Independence Day for asking one of them to stop using party spray in the pizzeria where Zelka worked. Sixteen teenagers have been charged in the Independence Day killing.

At a Knesset committee hearing last month on youth violence, Tzakul’s cousin Asi said the legal system treats violent youth too leniently.

“Destao was no less likely to be murdered because they are minors. Is the pain of his death less painful because the person who stabbed him is a teenager?” said Asi Tzakul. “The moment someone decides to plan a cold-blooded murder, they have given up the right to be called a child.”

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