Moment girl, nine, stabbed to death as she played with a hula hoop shown to jury

The moment a nine-year-old girl was stabbed to death as she played outside the shop where her mother was working was shown to jurors during a trial of the facts.

Lilia Valutyte died from a single stab wound to the heart as she played with a hula hoop in Boston, Lincolnshire, in July last year.

While Deividas Skebas, 23, has been charged with her murder, he has been deemed unfit to stand trial because he is severely mentally ill.

That means a trial of the facts is taking place, in which jurors are being asked to decide whether he physically killed Lilia.

They will not be asked to consider the motive, and the only possible sentence is a hospital order.

Skebas will not be attending proceedings at Lincoln Crown Court.

Prosecutor Christopher Donnellan KC showed the jury of six men and six women a video showing a man – alleged to be Skebas – running towards Lilia before stabbing her and running away.

He said: “Just after 6.15pm in the late afternoon, early evening of 28 July last year, Lilia Valutyte, a little girl aged nine, was playing outside a shop where her mother was actually working in Boston town centre.

“The defendant, Mr Skebas, approached, quickening his pace as he moved towards (her), then reaching behind his back, he pulled out a knife.

“He continued with his pace. He thrust the knife straight into her chest and through into her heart.”

Within less than a minute, an off duty police officer, Detective Constable Andrew Pearson, went to her aid but, along with other officers and paramedics, was unable to save her.

Skebas was arrested on 30 July, two days after the attack and interviewed the following day, giving what Mr Donnellan described as a “bizarre” explanation for the killing.

Mr Donnellan said: “He admitted that he had stabbed Lilia. He admitted he had seen (her) playing in the street. He identified himself in the CCTV extracts.”

A search of Skebas’s home in Thorold Street, Boston, found a paring knife deemed consistent with the murder weapon, the court was told.

Addressing the jury, Mrs Justice McGowan DBE said it is “not a normal trial”, the defendant is “seriously mentally ill” and “can’t play a proper part in the trial”.

“This is a serious and sad case and you will be reminded a number of times to try and put emotion to one side,” she said.

“It is important that when you come to decide whether or not you are sure he did it that however sad you found the case, you put that to one side and make a logical and clear decision.”

Andrew Campbell-Tiech KC, appointed by the court to mitigate on the defendant’s behalf, told the jury: “We are not in a position to challenge evidence because we have no instructions. We are appointed by the court to test that evidence.”

Skebas’s trial is estimated to last two days, and it continues.

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