Lilia Valutyte: Mother of nine-year-old stabbed in Boston street remembers her daughter

On 28 July 2022 Deividas Skebas stabbed nine-year-old Lilia Valutyte to death as she played in the street in her home town of Boston, Lincolnshire. He was later deemed unfit to stand trial but was given an indefinite hospital order after being found to have carried out the killing by a jury in a trial of the facts. Here, Amelia Beckett reports on a crime which shocked the community and left a family bereft.

It was a warm summer's evening in the market town of Boston, Lincolnshire. A day like any other.

Nine-year-old Lilia Valutyte was playing hula hoop outside her mother's shop on Fountain Lane, a quiet back street.

At approximately 6.20pm everything changed.

Out of nowhere a man suddenly approached Lilia, stabbed her once in the heart and ran off.

Lilia's screams were heard by her mother, Lina Savickiene, who was working at the time. She rushed to her daughter's aid, along with an off-duty police officer, before more police and paramedics arrived.

But within an hour, Lilia was dead.

In the days that followed, the nation's media descended on Boston. After they left, a family and a community were left to deal with the devastating reality of Lilia's death.

Reflecting on her daughter's life, Lina told ITV News: "[Lilia] was cheeky, happy, it was challenging, you know she was a challenging child but that's what I like. That's probably what I miss the most. I like challenges.

"But my second home is now the cemetery. Probably every two days I go there. I'm still doing the same job though where my daughter was killed. But I said I'm not leaving this town. I'm not leaving this place yet."

Lina first came to Boston from Lithuania in 2009. She then left and spent a year in London.

"I felt unsafe in London", she said. "We were talking and deciding should we go back to Lithuania or Boston? And we knew Boston and thought, it's such a nice town we will feel safe here..."

She could never imagine that the decision would end in such tragedy.

After killing Lilia, Skebas was charged with her murder but was later deemed unfit to stand trial because of severe mental illness. Instead a trial of facts was held to establish whether he had delivered the fatal blow.

Lincoln Crown Court was told Skebas first came to the UK from Lithuania in 2020, but went back before the Covid lockdown.

His return to the UK came just eight days before he stabbed Lilia.

Skebas was unanimously determined to have physically committed the act of killing Lilia by the jury on Tuesday. He has now been handed an indefinite hospital order, but could still face a criminal trial if at some point in the future he is deemed fit.

Despite everything that has happened to her, however, Lina's determination for something good to come out of her daughter's death has seen her work to improve safety in Boston and help to unite the community.

In April she organised a public meeting to discuss safety issues and in May she was elected as an independent councillor on the town council.

She said: "It depends on the person – when they throw you in the river [you] either sink or swim so I have no other choice. I want us to stand stronger for each other, help the elderly, help the youth to grow.

"After this tragedy happened to my daughter, everyone was so supportive. I didn't expect that. Now I call Boston my home, and I just want to fight for our safety."

Lina has raised money for a statue in Lilia's memory as well as a mural she designed in conjunction with arts initiative the Boston School of Mosaic.

Nick Jones, from the group Transported who work with the Boston School of Mosaic, said:"Lina's determination to join the council and talk about ways of making it less divided in this place, she's actually doing it practically.

"She's going to the mosaic group, she's working with them she's harnessing their skills, that energy to make beautiful things to make this a nicer place to be."

Back in Boston at the place where Lilia lay, her family have painted a wall of colour. 

It is a reminder of the joy she brought into the lives of those who knew her and of the bright legacy her mother is now fighting for. 

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