A man who stabbed a nine-year-old girl playing outside her mother’s embroidery shop in Lincolnshire has been found guilty of murder.
Deividas Skebas, 26, knifed Lilia Valutyte in the heart as she played with a hula hoop on a street in Boston town centre on 28 July 2022.
Skebas, a Lithuanian who has schizophrenia and moved back to the UK just weeks the attack, had denied murder but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Lilia’s mother, Lina Savickiene, said she had found her daughter “covered in blood and with the hoop around her”.
She initially thought “something might have happened” with the hula hoop and described shouting for help while trying to cover her daughter’s wounds as she became “pale”.
An off-duty police officer tried to help Ms Savickiene save Lilia, but it was in vain.
Skebas was judged mentally unfit to stand trial in 2023, but that assessment changed in spring 2025 and a criminal trial began at Lincoln Crown Court last week.
Jurors were told there was no dispute he had killed Lilia but they had to decide what his state of mind was.
Prosecutors said he he had known what he was doing in stabbing the Lilia – who would have been 13 this week – and tried to avoid being caught.
CCTV showed Skebas buying the knife two days before, as well as launching the fatal attack and fleeing the scene. The video evidence was crucial in showing his judgement was not impaired, said the Crown Prosecution Service.
The killer also shaved off his beard after the murder and phone evidence showed him making arrangements to leave the UK.
Defence barrister Andrew Campbell-Tiech KC told the court that Skebas, who appeared via videolink from the high security Rampton Hospital, was “quite obviously deluded”.
The court heard he had told police he had “the power to resurrect” Lilia if they contacted “his controller in Nasa”.
Lilia’s mother said Thursday’s verdict wouldn’t change anything.
“Nothing will bring our child back, the pain will not disappear, and the tears shed will not wash it away,” she said in a statement.
“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.”
