The woman who raped and murdered a 12-year-old girl and left her body outside the building where her parents worked in Paris was sentenced to life in prison, the harshest possible sentence in France.
Dahbia Benkired was convicted of raping, torturing and killing Lola Daviet, according the BBC, BFMTV and The New York Times.
The Times reported that Benkired is the first woman to be sentenced to life in France.
Lola’s body was found in a plastic container in October 2022, outside the building where she and Benkired both lived, according to the BBC.
The girl’s throat had been slit and the numbers “1” and “0” were written on her feet, say authorities.
The Times reported that Benkired lured Lola to her apartment before raping her, mutilating her and eventually fatally suffocating her with duct tape.
According to the BBC, Benkired apologized for her actions.
“I ask for forgiveness and what I did is horrible,” she reportedly said in court. “That’s all I have to say.”
Le Parisien reported that Benkired was seen on surveillance footage carrying the container Lola was later found in.
The outlet further reported that an investigator testified during the trial, saying Benkired stopped at a cafe minutes after leaving the building with the container and spoke with a man who asked her what was inside it.
Benkired reportedly told the man “kidneys,”
Hours later, the man told police about the encounter after hearing the news that a 12-year-old girl was found dead inside a similar trunk.
“Even if this won’t bring my Lola back, we believed in justice and we got it, we got it,” Lola’s mother told reporters, according to the Times, before thanking the court.