Home / Crime and Justice / Girl, 9, Stabbed While Playing With Hula Hoop
Girl, 9, Stabbed While Playing With Hula Hoop
8 Feb
Summary
- A nine-year-old girl was fatally stabbed while playing with a hula hoop.
- The attacker, a diagnosed schizophrenic fruit picker, believed he was microchipped.
- The mother heard her daughter's scream before finding her critically wounded.
In a tragic incident on July 28, 2022, nine-year-old Lilia Valutyte was fatally stabbed while playing with a hula hoop on Fountain Lane in Boston, Lincolnshire. Her mother, Lina Savickiene, heard her daughter's desperate cry and rushed outside to find Lilia critically wounded.
Deividas Skebas, a 26-year-old fruit picker from Lithuania, was convicted of the murder at Lincoln Crown Court. Skebas, who had recently moved to the UK, suffered from schizophrenia and believed he was being controlled by a NASA microchip. He attacked Lilia moments after she and her five-year-old sister were playing.
Lilia collapsed in her mother's arms and died within an hour, despite the efforts of an off-duty police officer. Skebas attempted to flee the UK after shaving his beard and hiding the murder weapon. He was arrested two days later and admitted to hospital due to his deteriorating mental health.
Skebas was initially found unfit to stand trial. However, in 2023, a trial of fact determined he was responsible for the murder. He was later found fit to plead and stand trial, ultimately being convicted of murder by a majority verdict of 11 to one after a seven-and-a-half-hour deliberation.
