Murder of Lola, 12 years old: we now know what awaits Dahbia B., main suspect in the crime committed in 2022

A trial at the assizes has been requested against Dahbia Benkired for murder of a minor under 15 accompanied by rape, torture or acts of barbarity, concerning Lola, 12, killed at the end of 2022 in Paris, the Paris prosecutor's office told AFP on Monday, September 16, confirming information from RMC.

In this case which had caused a great deal of emotion in France, the public prosecutor confirmed on Monday that it had requested on September 9 the indictment, and therefore the referral to the assize court, of Dahbia Benkired for this criminal offense carrying a life sentence, as well as another offense retained, rape of a minor with torture or act of barbarity. The final decision on a trial rests with the investigating judge.

On Friday, October 14, 2022, Lola, who had not returned from school in the afternoon, was found lifeless in a plastic crate in the courtyard of the building in the capital where she lived.

While looking for his daughter, her father, the caretaker of the residence, saw on the video surveillance images Lola entering the hall around 3:15 p.m. with a woman he did not know. The latter came out of the building around 5 p.m., pulling heavy luggage including a trunk in  elastic.

Under OQTF

The criminal brigade of the Paris judicial police arrested the suspect, Dahbia Benkired, a young Algerian born in 1998, who entered France legally in 2016 with a student residence permit, on Saturday morning in Bois-Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine).

She had been under an order to leave French territory (OQTF) for two months. The fact that she was still present in France had sparked virulent criticism from the right and the far right.

The government had in return castigated "the indecency" of this "political recovery". During her police custody, Dahbia B. had recounted having "forced (Lola) to shower before committing sexual assaults and other acts of violence against her that resulted in death. “She had allegedly hidden the body in the box,” Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau reported in a statement at the time.

The autopsy revealed that Lola died of asphyxiation. Her body had "multiple other injuries", particularly on the neck, but no "traumatic injury to the sexual sphere".

At the end of her police custody, Dahbia Benkired was charged and placed in pretrial detention. A man who transported Dahbia Benkired with the cash register and had her stay at his home for a while had been charged with receiving stolen goods.

RMC indicates that the prosecution has requested that the case be dismissed, which the public prosecutor has not immediately confirmed.