A woman who admitted raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl has told a court she “killed a baby, an angel”. Algerian migrant, Dahbia Benkired, 27, spoke about the murder for the first time on the second day of her trial in France on Monday (October 20).
Benkired confessed to killing Lola Daviet in an horrific case which shocked France three years ago. She told the court: “I know I killed a baby, an angel. She must be in heaven now.”
She blamed the evil attack on drugs, telling the Paris Assizes she “lost it” after taking Lyrica, a medicine used to treat anxiety disorders, epilepsy and neuropathic pain.
The Algerian told the court she was taking the drug to help herself cope with the pain of being a prostitute, The Sun reports.
Benkired’s case has sparked anger in France as she had no right to remain in the country and had been ordered to leave two months before she killed Lola in 2022.
Lola had arrived home in Paris just after 3pm on October 14 that year. Benkired was staying with her sister in the same building where she met the child.
Prosecutors allege Benkired cut Lola’s throat with scissors and a box cutter then taped over her face with duct tape, suffocating the youngster.
Éric Pauget from the Republican party told the French parliament Lola had been killed as a result of France’s “weak” immigration policies.
CCTV shows Benkired filmed in the entrance of the building surrounded by suitcases. She was arrested after Lola’s lifeless body was found in a trunk nearby.
Under French law, a guilty plea still leads to a trial in the most serious cases to determine the motive and circumstances surrounding the offence.
The trial continues.
