The tragedy that pierced the heart of France took a deeper and more devastating turn. In October 2022, 12-year-old Lola Deviet was found raped, tortured and murdered in her Paris neighborhood. The nation recoiled in shock and grief as details emerged of her brutal murder at the hands of Dabia Benkired, a 27-year-old Algerian migrant with an overstayed visa. As the investigation progresses and a rare life sentence is handed down to the perpetrator, another heartache is quietly revealed: Lola’s father, once a devoted building caretaker and family man, died of grief just months after his daughter’s murder, overwhelmed by the loss and trauma that engulfed his family.
Crime and the national response
On the afternoon of October 14, 2022, Lola’s parents reported her missing after she failed to return home from school. In the video footage, the suspect is seen luring Lola into his building and then leaving with the trunk in which the girl’s body was hidden. The gruesome discovery of Lola’s remains, mutilated and hidden in a suitcase in the building’s courtyard, sparked an intense and highly publicized police investigation. Public reaction was swift — fueled by gruesome details and the revelation that Benkired had been living in France in defiance of a deportation order, the crime ignited protests and fierce political debate about immigration and public safety.
Trial and historic verdict
Benkired confessed to the crime, and the evidence presented during the trial – autopsy reports, witness statements, surveillance video – leaves no doubt about Lola’s brutality. The presiding judge cited “extraordinary cruelty” and “genuine torture” in his decision to impose a “non-parole life sentence”. It was the most severe punishment authorized by French law and the first such sentence against a woman in the history of French law. Psychiatric experts have described Benkired as having “psychopathic” traits, but she has been held fully responsible for her actions and has only apologized for her “horrific” actions.
After and a family tragedy
For Lola’s family, the pain did not end with the sentencing. Her mother, Delfina, testified that her husband Johan, who had long struggled with alcoholism before years of sobriety, began drinking again after their daughter’s murder. Grief overwhelmed him so much that he died in February 2024, unable to recover from the loss of his child. “He drank from morning to night,” Delfina told the court, describing a family forever broken by violence.
