Last moments of little lady, 9, are captured on digicam as she performed on the street earlier than she was murdered at random by schizophrenic who stabbed her within the coronary heart
A Lithuanian man who stabbed a nine-year-old in the heart while she played with a hula hoop in the street has been convicted of murder.
Lilia Valutyte was killed by Deividas Skebas, 26, in the town centre of Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 28, 2022, outside her mother’s embroidery shop.
She was playing in the street with her friend on Fountain Lane in the moments before she was attacked.
Skebas approached the pair shortly before 6:20pm, stabbing Lilia once in the chest.
The defendant admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was convicted of murder by a jury at Lincoln Crown Court today.
There was no dispute that Skebas, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, killed Lilia but the jury had to decide what his state of mind was at the time of the attack.
Opening the case last week, Christopher Donnellan KC told jurors: ‘This deliberate murder was clearly a wicked act.
‘He knew his conduct was wrong. He knew he was killing a child.’
Mr Justice Choudhury did not address the defendant, who watched on a link from Rampton high security hospital, after he adjourned the case for sentence on February 25.
Lilia’s mother, Lina Savickiene, cradled her daughter after she was attacked in the street.
Lilia was attacked by Skebas, 26, in the town centre of Boston, while she played in the street
Skebas admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was convicted of murder by a jury at Lincoln Crown Court today
Lilia was stabbed to death outside her mother’s embroidery shop in Boston, Lincolnshire
In a victim impact statement read for her by her husband, Aurelijus Savickas, the grieving mother said: ‘During these nine years we lived life fully, we visited many places, we didn’t stand still.’
About her grief, Mrs Savickiene said: ‘This is not something you recover from.
‘Sometimes terrifying thoughts overwhelm the mind and during this trial there have been many, many more.’
She added: ‘Why her? Why us? The questions remain unanswered.’
Mrs Savickiene also said: ‘Nothing will bring our child back, the pain will not disappear, and the tears shed will not wash it away.
‘From the bottom of our hearts, we thank those who were not afraid to stand by us and support our family during the hardest time.
‘No matter how strong we may appear, there are moments when all we need is to know that we are needed and not alone.
‘Your presence meant more than words can express.’
Mr Savickas became Lilia’s stepfather when she was three, he said in his statement.
‘From that moment we walked our journey together,’ he said.
‘Becoming her stepfather was new for both of us, but I loved her as my own and always tried to be there for her.’
He said she was a ‘beautiful soul’ with a ‘strong character’.
Lina Savicke, Lilia’s mother, said Skebas’s mother had got in touch to extend her condolences and told her they would do ‘everything they can’ to help her family
He added: ‘Lilia, you will always live in our hearts, you are forever loved, forever missed.’
During the trial, defence barrister Andrew Campbell-Tiech KC told the jury Skebas was ‘quite obviously deluded’.
He said clinicians treating the killer doubted he will recover.
The court heard that after the killing, Skebas said he had ‘the power to resurrect’ Lilia if the police contacted ‘his controller in Nasa’.
The defendant, formerly of Thorold Street in Boston, was transferred from prison to Rampton Hospital in December 2022.
He was convicted by a majority of 11 to one after the jury deliberated for almost seven-and-a-half hours.
Skebas was initially considered unfit to stand trial due to mental health issues and was instead the subject of a trial of facts in 2023.
It was judged that he was responsible for stabbing Lilia – but a hearing of this type is not considered a criminal prosecution.
Skebas was given an indefinite hospital order which saw him detained at Rampton Hospital until such a time he was deemed fit to stand trial.
A criminal trial began last week on Monday, 26 January, in which prosecutors argued that at the time of the stabbing, Skebas knew what he was doing and took actions to avoid detection.
They said that while the deterioration of his mental health after the incident was genuine, CCTV showed him buying a knife two days before the murder, prowling around the area before he murdered Lilia and then fleeing the scene.
Skebas also shaved off his beard after the murder and from the mobile phone evidence he made arrangements to flee the country.
In a statement following his conviction, Detective Chief Inspector Jennifer Lovatt, of Lincolnshire Police, said: ‘Lilia Valutyte was a young girl who had her whole life ahead of her indeed on Monday 2nd February it should have been her 13th birthday.
‘She was dearly loved by her family and friends and did not deserve to lose her life.
‘Those who knew her will forever mourn the loss of her future and the impact of her tragic death can still be felt in our community today.
‘On July 28, 2022, Deividas Skebas performed an unspeakable act.
‘Today is about justice for Lilia, her family and those who knew her.’
She added that ‘there was clear evidence that after Skebas killed Lilia, he made preparations to leave the country’.
This is a breaking news story.
