Man guilty of murdering girl, 9, playing in streetJust nowShareSaveJessica LaneandEleanor Maslin,East Yorkshire and LincolnshireShareSaveLina SavickeDeividas Skebas stabbed Lilia Valutyte outside the shop where her mother worked in 2022A man has been found guilty of murdering a nine-year-old girl as she played in the street.Deividas Skebas stabbed Lilia Valutyte outside the shop where her mother worked in Boston, Lincolnshire, on 28 July 2022.The 26-year-old admitted killing Lilia but denied her murder, claiming his responsibility was diminished by his mental state. However, a jury at Lincoln Crown Court convicted him following a trial.Skebas, formerly of Thorold Street, Boston, was remanded in custody.
KEY DETAILS:
• He will be sentenced on 25 February.
• 'We were determined heinous child-killer faced full force of justice'Lilia had been playing with a hula hoop with a friend outside her mother's shop on Fountain Lane just before she was stabbed.Shortly after 18:20 BST, the pair were approached by Skebas who reached out and stabbed Lilia once in the chest.Her mother, Lina Savicke, remembers hearing Lilia call her name before she rushed into the street to see her daughter still clutching the hoop and, moments later, collapsing into her arms.The court heard that, despite the efforts of an off-duty police officer, doctors and paramedics, Lilia died within an hour of being stabbed in the chest.
• Lincolnshire PoliceDeividas Skebas was arrested in Boston on 30 July 2022, two days after the stabbingThe jury heard Skebas was arrested at his home two days after the attack, and the paring knife he had recently bought from a local shop was found behind a radiator.During the trial, the jury was told Skebas was assessed by three psychiatrists who wrote a joint report for his trial.
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