A 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 attacked by Deividas Skebas, 26, in the town centre of Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 28 2022, while she was playing outside her mother’s embroidery shop.
The Lithuanian defendant admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was convicted of murder by a jury at Lincoln Crown Court on Thursday.
There was no dispute that Skebas, 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.
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.”
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”.
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 had initially been deemed unfit to stand trial but it was later argued that, while his deteriorating mental health was genuine, he did indeed know what he was doing, had tried to avoid detection and intended to flee the country.
Outside court, Detective Chief Inspector Jennifer Lovatt 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.”
Marc Thompson, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The sudden and tragic death of such a young child shook our community.
“We were determined that the perpetrator of this crime would face the full force of justice for what he did.
“Our case has always been that this was an unspeakable, deliberate act and not, as Skebas has claimed, the result of a mental abnormality.”
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