Dahbia Benkired, 27, has been handed a whole-life sentence for the rape and murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet, becoming the first woman in France to receive such a punishment. The crime was so harrowing that Lola's father, Johan Daviet, passed away from grief, the family has stated.
Rare Sentence and Psychopath Label
Benkired must serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars after a panel of judges and jury at a French court delivered the most severe sentence available in November 2025. The punishment is exceptionally uncommon in France.
Respected psychologist Emma Kenny has re-examined the case on her YouTube channel, disclosing how Benkired was judged to possess a "volatile, manipulative personality" by prison experts. Kenny said of Benkired: "We are talking about the worst of the worst. The evaluations noted personality traits such as a cold, passive-aggressive nature, pathological lying, and very low empathy. Like I said, she is a psychopath, cut and dried. Narcissistic and antisocial behavior, inflated sense of self-worth, and very high-risk of reoffending."
Family's Reaction and Background
Following the verdict, Lola's mother, Delphine Daviet, said, "We believed in justice, and we got it." Lola's brother, Thibault, added, "We have restored the memory of my sister, we have restored the truth."
Lola was murdered in October 2022, with her remains being discovered in a plastic storage box in the courtyard where she lived in northeastern Paris. Benkired's status as an Algerian immigrant who was under orders to leave France sparked widespread outrage.
Immigration Status and Father's Death
Benkired had been in France on a student visa, which she failed to renew. Several months before the killing, in July 2022, she was detained at a Parisian airport and given 30 days to depart the country. Within days of Lola's murder, Jordan Bardella, president of France's National Rally Party, wrote on X that Benkired "had no business being in France."
Her father, Johan, passed away less than two years after his daughter's death in February 2024 at the age of 49. Lola's mother Delphine recounted in court how her husband, who had previously been sober, turned back to alcohol on the very day their daughter was killed. "He drank from morning to night," she said, adding that he "died of grief" and was tormented by "his demons."
Trial and Sentencing
Prosecutors pushed for the maximum possible sentence. Benkired was assessed by psychiatric specialists and found to possess "psychopathic" traits, yet was deemed fit to stand trial. "Make no mistake, no drug treatment can fundamentally transform Ms. Benkired's personality," the prosecution told a panel of three judges and six jurors. "When there is no illness, there is no treatment."
Prior to jurors commencing their deliberations, Benkired appealed to the court for forgiveness: "What I did is horrible. That's all I have to say."
CCTV footage from Oct. 14, 2022, captured Benkired, then aged 24, approaching Lola after she had returned home from school. According to reports, she enticed Lola into a flat her elder sister was subletting.
Benkired subjected Lola to more than ninety minutes of sexual abuse before launching an attack with scissors and a box cutter. The woman restrained Lola with duct tape, including around her head, resulting in her death by asphyxiation.
As the presiding judge delivered the verdict, he made reference to the "extreme cruelty of the criminal acts" which he described as "true torture." "In determining the appropriate sentence, the court took into account the unspeakable psychological damage to the victim and her family in such violent and almost unspeakable circumstances," he said.
