Chilling footage has captured the moment a killer watched a nine-year-old girl playing hula hoop in a Lincolnshire street before stabbing her through the heart in a random attack.
CCTV shown to Lincoln Crown Court revealed Deividas Skebas, 26, stumbling across Lilia Valutyte as she played with another child outside her mother’s shop on 28 July 2022 in Boston.
The Lithuanian national can be seen waiting whilst other pedestrians moved out of the way before pulling a knife from his back trouser pocket and running towards the youngster whilst “barely altering his pace”.
He thrust the blade through Lilia’s heart with such force she was knocked backwards into shutters before collapsing in the street. The nine-year-old died in her mother’s arms approximately an hour after the attack.
Skebas was yesterday found guilty of murder following a trial, with jurors rejecting his claim that mental illness diminished his responsibility for the killing. He had previously admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.
Lilia’s mother, Lina Savickiene, had allowed her daughter to play outside from about 5pm because the street was quiet, checking on her quite often. The pair had earlier been into town for lunch and shopping.
The attack occurred just after 6:15pm when “barely anyone was about”. Savickiene ran over to find her daughter “covered in blood and with the hoop around her”.
She stated: “She was getting pale. She collapsed in my hands. I saw the wounds, started to cover them. I just got scared, started to shout for somebody to help me.”
Further footage shown to the court captured police swooping to arrest Skebas in a residential street following the horror. An officer can be heard telling him he was being held on suspicion of murder, to which Skebas responded “yeah”.
He was arrested on 30 July 2022 but his mental health was described as “declining” and he was transferred to hospital. At the time, he was found not fit to be tried after being diagnosed with schizophrenia.
During this period, Skebas claimed he had “the power to resurrect” Lilia if police contacted “his controller in Nasa”. He received treatment for his mental health both in the UK and Lithuania before being deemed fit to stand trial.
Marc Thompson from the Crown Prosecution Service stated: “Our case has always been that this was an unspeakable, deliberate act and not, as Skebas has claimed, the result of a mental abnormality.”
He added: “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.”
Thompson paid tribute to the resilience and patience of Lilia’s family, who were forced to wait whilst Skebas became fit to participate in proceedings. He expressed hope that seeing justice served would provide some comfort.
The prosecutor stated: “This has been a lengthy process for Lilia’s family and loved ones, as they have been forced to wait for Skebas to be fit to take part in this trial. Our thoughts are with them and all who feel Lilia’s loss so keenly.”
Skebas, 26, now faces life imprisonment when he is sentenced on 25 February at Lincoln Crown Court. He has been remanded into custody ahead of the hearing, where a judge will determine the minimum term he must serve.
