Who is Felicia Kononchuck? Girl, 9, shot dead by drunk neighbor after she posted about him pounding on her door
A nine-year-old girl was shot dead by her neighbor after she posted on TikTok saying she feared that the man next door would break down her front door as he banged on it for an hour while his father was out. Felicia Kononchuk had posted a video of her ordeal before being shot by the neighbor, 33-year-old Vasily Dunets, who has since been arrested.
According to reports, Kononchuk posted the video to her TikTok profile telling friends of her fears of the "drunk and obscene neighbor" from her home in Chita city. Her father had apparently been doing some repairs on the property in the Russian city of Chita and left the children home alone for a brief period of time while he went to the shops.
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The girl described her situation in the video, saying that the man had been knocking for a long time and that the noise could be heard even in the other room. She also mentioned that she was home alone with her two brothers, aged 4 and 14.
Felicia approached the front door as seen in the TikTok video, to film the disturbance as the neighbor was raging outside. She said in the videos, "He has been standing here for several minutes, knocking and cursing. I'm scared." Posted 15 minutes before she was killed, Felicia warned on the video that "something bad" was going on. She said that the neighbor, who has since been identified as 33-year-old Vasily Dunets, was shooting obscene words and that he would break down the door. She also said that her younger brother hid during the ordeal.
It then went quiet and Felicia believed that the "neighbor from hell" had gone away. Her father then returned from the shops following which there was a soft knock on the door. Believing it to be her friend coming to take her for a walk, Kononchuck opened the door. However, Dunets was standing outside and shot the nine-year-old girl with his 12 caliber IZH-43EM hunting rifle. The bullets penetrated the metal door and she was hit in the head. Before she died, she said, "Dad, I've been killed."
Her father, Fyodor Kononchuck, told 7News, "I ran into the corridor and saw my daughter covered in blood." He said he took his daughter in his arms and shouted to his son and the repair workers to call an ambulance, however, doctors told him that his daughter "had no chance to survive." Felicia Kononchuck died in his arms.
In a video that was since blacked out, Fyodor, 44 years old, showed Felicia lying in her open coffin ahead of the funeral, and footage from the graveside with her four-year-old brother. He said, "My daughter's body is in the soil and her soul is in heaven,"
Dunets, who worked in a household supplies store confessed to the killing and was detained, according to reports. He had reportedly been enraged by noise from repair works at Kononchuck's flat. Alexander Bastrykin, Russia's top criminal investigator heading the Russian Investigative Committee and former university classmate of Vladimir Putin, has taken over the investigation. If convicted, Dunets could face life in prison.
Fyodor also denied that he had kicked Dunets saying that he told his neighbor to sleep because he would not speak to a "drunk man." Felicia's mother said that they previously had good relations with Dunets.