Court to deliver verdict in teen murder case in Žvėrynas

Vilnius Regional Court will announce its verdict on Monday in the case of the brutal murder of a teenager in the Žvėrynas district of the capital, LRT reports, citing BNS.

The hearing will be held behind closed doors to protect the identity of the minor involved. Audrius Cininas, the presiding judge of the three-judge panel, told BNS that the closed session is necessary because there are no technical means to allow both the defendant and the media to attend while maintaining confidentiality.

After the verdict is announced, the judge will briefly comment on the decision and disclose the sentence if the minor is found guilty. Prosecutor Vytautas Jancevičius, who supports the state’s accusation, has requested a 10-year prison sentence for the defendant.

The case, transferred to the court in January, involves a 2010-born minor accused of the particularly brutal murder of a peer. The pre-trial investigation began in August last year after a Vilnius resident reported her 2010-born son missing. Parts of the victim’s body were later found in a communal waste container and a nearby wooded area in the Žvėrynas microdistrict. The suspect, another teenager, was detained the following day and remains in custody, the strictest pre-trial measure, which is valid until early August.