Woman Accused of Raping, Torturing and Murdering 12-Year-Old Girl, Then Leaving Her Body Outside Her Parents’ Workplace By Sean Neumann

The long-awaited trial for the murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet in France began with a shocking apology.

Dahbia Benkired, who stands accused of luring Lola into her sister’s apartment before torturing, raping and killing the girl, immediately confessed and apologized to the Daviet family on Friday, Oct. 17 — asking forgiveness as she faces a possible life sentence in the coming days, according to several reports.

“What I did was horrible,” Benkired, now 27, said in her first words to the Paris Assize Court on Friday, according to Le Parisien, The Huffington Post and NDTV. “I would like to ask the whole family for forgiveness. What I did was horrible and I regret it.”

Three years ago, Lola was found brutally murdered in the trunk of a car outside the apartment building where her mother and father — Delphine and Johan Daviet — worked as caretakers. Investigators said her throat was slit, her body had signs of sexual abuse, and the numbers “1” and “0” were mysteriously written on each of her feet, PEOPLE reported at the time.

Since then, there’s been little doubt about who police believe is responsible for the 12-year-old schoolgirl’s gruesome death. One day after Lola was reported missing by her mother, Benkired was arrested and charged with her killing.

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CCTV cameras inside the apartment building caught Benkired approaching the 12-year-old girl outside the building’s front door and entering the complex with her, just as Lola was returning home from school. That footage was shown again Friday in court, according to Le Parisien and The Huffington Post, as prosecutors narrated what they believed happened.

Later on the afternoon of Lola’s killing, investigators said witnesses watched Benkired leaving the building — where her sister Friha also lived, according to Le Parisien — carrying a trunk, which she stuffed inside a friend’s car.

Another piece of CCTV footage shown in court Friday appeared to show Benkired leaving the building with the same trunk in which Lola was found — a neighbor even helping hold the door for her as the then-24-year-old struggled to maneuver the luggage outside, Le Parisien reported.

An investigator also testified Friday how Benkired allegedly stopped at a cafe minutes after leaving the building with the trunk and spoke with a man who asked her what was inside the case, according to the outlet. “Kidneys,” Benkired allegedly told the man, who hours later came to police after hearing the news that a 12-year-old girl was found dead inside a similar trunk nearby.

Authorities testified Friday that Benkired confessed to killing Lola during their first interrogation, according to the newspaper. And shortly after her murder trial began Friday, Benkired apologized and asked forgiveness.

Le Parisien shared moment-by-moment updates from the emotional courtroom Friday, during which Lola’s brother was granted permission to address Benkired directly: “We would like you to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, to all of France and to us,” Thibault Daviet, Lola’s brother, reportedly told his sister’s accused killer.

Some members of the victim’s family left the courtroom before prosecutors showed pictures of her mutilated body, according to Le Parisien: “Death was caused by mechanical asphyxia due to obstruction of the nose and mouth,” the judge said, reading a medical examiner’s report as the images lingered on the screen. “Her head partially severed.”

The Huffington Post described Benkired’s trial and opening testimony as “highly anticipated” in a country where the case surrounding the Algerian [native] has become far-right political fodder — against Lola’s mother’s public wishes to keep her deceased daughter out of political debate and leave the memory of her young life at peace.

Benkired, who reportedly appeared mostly calm in court Friday as prosecutors laid out the case against her, could face up to life in prison if convicted, Le Parisien reported.

Her trial is set to last for six days.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.