Mahmoud Hrouk, 16, was brutally raped and murdered in 2015 – but his mother, Maha Dunia, says she wants people to remember him for who he was, not how he died
The mother of Sydney teenager Mahmoud Hrouk, who was raped and murdered in an abandoned house in 2015 says she won’t say anything good or bad abut her son’s killer.
‘Honestly I don’t want to say anything about [Aymen Terkmani],’ Maha Dunia told The Daily Telegraph.
‘He didn’t show any emotion during the trial and I’m not going to show him anything. Let him think whatever he wants.’
Ms Dunia said she wanted her 16-year-old son to be remembered for who he was, and not how he died.
‘Everyone that knew him, knew he had a big heart – he cared a lot about everyone, he didn’t like to see anyone crying… I love him so much,’ she said.
‘I love him so much’: Maha Dunia (pictured outside NSW Supreme Court) says she was ‘numb’ when her sons killer was convicted of his crime, and will never reveal her true feelings to Aymen Terkmani, who was convicted of killing her son
The woman said her ‘head went numb’, when a guilty verdict was delivered by a jury against Aymen Terkmani, 24, and described it as a ‘shocking moment’.
It comes as newly released footage shows the convicted killer visiting Fairfield Police Station on May 16, 2015, just hours before he sexually assaulted and killed 16-year-old Mahmoud Hrouk.
The video, obtained by 9News, shows the now 24-year-old dressed in a white t-shirt and sunglasses as he attended the station around 4pm for bail conditions related to a prior drugs charge.
On Monday, a NSW Supreme Court jury found Terkmani guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering Mahmoud at an unoccupied Fairfield East home.
On Monday, a NSW Supreme Court jury found Terkmani guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering Mahmou, who was reportedly beaten with a toaster and strangled
Footage shows Aymen Terkmani (pictured) visiting Fairfield Police Station on May 16, 2015, just hours before he sexually assaulted and killed 16-year-old Mahmoud Hrouk
Mahmoud had reportedly been affected by ecstasy when he was beaten with a toaster and rolling pin, before he was then strangled and sexually assaulted.
His numerous injuries included a skull fracture, brain damage, fractured ribs, fractured eye socket, collapsed lung and internal injuries.
The teenager’s half-naked body was reportedly discovered the following morning in a pool of blood.
Mahmoud’s family had frantically searched the neighbourhood for him following his disappearance, with his mother Maha Dunia last speaking to him at 9.42pm.
The teenager had whispered ‘Mum, I’m with Aymen,’ before their call was cut off.
Mahmoud’s family had frantically searched the neighbourhood for him following his disappearance, after he told his mother ‘I’m with Aymen,’ in their last phone call
The now 24-year-old Terkmani claimed he parted from the teenager at 7.30pm after they ate at McDonald’s
Ms Dunia testified she was in bed when Mahmoud left for his labouring job about 5.30am and asked her: ‘Mum do you need anything before I leave?’
She replied no and said ‘God bless you’ as he left the house and later phoned him around 9pm to tell him to come home.
He replied he was with a friend and would come home on his pushbike, but in a second call, she told him: ‘Don’t worry about the bike I’m coming to pick you up.’
The family began searching the neighbourhood and reported Mahmoud missing to police.
During the search, Ms Dunia allegedly saw her son’s pushbike outside Terkmani’s house but by the next morning it was in a nearby street.
Terkmani showed no reaction to the verdict and is due to be sentenced in October
Mahmoud’s father, Azzam Hrouk, told the jury that during the search he kept looking for someone on the ground next to a bicycle.
‘I thought he might have fallen, had an accident,’ he said.
After he was told the bike was seen outside Terkmani’s house, Mr Hrouk went there around 4am and spoke to Terkmani who said ‘I don’t know any Mahmoud’.
Terkmani later claimed he parted from the teenager at 7.30pm after they ate at McDonald’s.
His father testified his son was at home at the time of the murder, with Terkmani showing no reaction to the verdict as it was handed down.
Terkmani is due to be sentenced on October 27.