Fruit picker, 22, ‘who murdered Lilia Valutyte, 9,’ was a well-educated altar boy in his local village in Lithuania
A FRUIT picker accused of stabbing a nine-year-old girl to death was once a well-educated altar boy, it has been reported.
Deividas Skebas, 22, is charged with the murder of Lillia Valutyte, who was brutally attacked as she played with her littler sister outside a café in Boston, Lincs.
The Lithuanian national grew up in the tiny village of Leliūnai, around ten miles from the industrial city of Utena in north east Lithuania.
He is thought to have spent most of childhood there, wearing white robes as a teen to help out in the local Roman Catholic Church.
And according to the Mail Online, Skebas helped his priest with weddings, christenings and mass at the redbrick Roman Catholic church.
Speaking of him as a boy, one villager told the Mail: “Everyone here is shocked that he has been charged with the murder of a little girl.
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“People remember him here as an ordinary, and polite boy.”
Another told Lithuanian newspaper Lietuvos Rytas how Skebas was a “polite, kind, sincere, well-educated young man”.
And a third said Skebas was “always a polite, pleasant young man”.
They added: “The last time I saw him was maybe a couple of months ago.
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“He didn’t raise any suspicions. He didn’t seem to be doing anything wrong – he was as cute as ever.”
Skebas’ mum Daiva Skebienė, 42, owns a flower shop in Utena.
She and Skebas’ dad Darius Skebas reportedly still live with their 18-year-old daughter in an apartment block in the village.
Skebas is believed to have worked with his dad in Norway before moving to the UK to work in a factory in Lincolnshire.
He has been remanded in custody to appear at Lincoln Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on September 19.
Little Lilia Valutyte was killed as she played with a hula hoop next to her five-year-old sister at around 6.20pm on July 28.
Her mum, who was working in a café when the tragedy unfolded, said she heard one of her daughter’s scream “mum” at the time.
Lina Savicke, 35, told the Sunday Mirror: “On that fateful day I was giving a gift to my friend when the children were playing outside my windows.
“As I ran around the corner, I heard someone calling me, ‘Mum!’
“I go out and see how my little girl was standing a metre away from the big one and she just bled to death.”
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Lina has also revealed how Lithuanian national Skebas’ mum Daiva phoned her to offer her support following the tragedy on July 28.
She said: “His mother called yesterday. I heard that he comes from a very good family.”
