Dahbia Benkired sentenced to life without parole in Lola Daviet murder: a first for a woman under French law

A Paris court on Friday, October 24, handed Dahbia Benkired, 27, an irreducible life sentence—France’s harshest punishment—for the rape, torture, and murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet in 2022. The ruling, known in French law as “réclusion criminelle à perpétuité incompressible,” makes Benkired the first woman to receive a whole-life term with no standard possibility of release. The verdict closes a searing trial that reopened national debates over child protection, criminal responsibility, and the limits of punishment.

What “life without parole” means in France

The sentence delivered to Dahbia Benkired is designed to be served in full. Unlike ordinary life terms—where a minimum period must pass before a panel can consider adjustments—an irreducible life sentence foresees no parole timeline. Only extraordinary, narrowly defined mechanisms (such as compassionate measures on medical grounds or a head-of-state intervention) could alter the sentence, and those remain exceedingly rare.

The case against Dahbia Benkired

Jurors found that on October 14, 2022, Benkired abducted Lola in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, subjected her to sexual assault and acts of torture and barbarity, and killed her by asphyxiation. Lola’s body was later discovered in a trunk near the family’s building, a detail that shocked the country and accelerated the investigation. During the proceedings, the court reviewed surveillance timelines, forensic reports documenting extensive injuries, and testimony reconstructing the hours before and after the killing.

Benkrired, an Algerian national who had received an administrative order to leave France prior to the crime, faced counts of murder of a minor under 15, rape, and acts of torture and barbarity. Psychiatric assessments presented during the trial affirmed her criminal responsibility.

Inside the courtroom: evidence, testimony, and a shattering impact

Over several days of testimony, the court heard from investigators, medical experts, and relatives of the victim. Forensic specialists described injuries consistent with sustained violence; video evidence mapped movements in and around the residence; and witnesses recounted encounters that helped anchor the timeline. The victim’s family spoke about a life cleaved in two by the crime—grief that extended beyond the initial tragedy and reshaped the household’s future.

The defense challenged intent and sought to contextualize the defendant’s behavior, but the jury accepted the prosecution’s framing on all principal charges. At sentencing, the bench emphasized the exceptional gravity of crimes involving a child, sexual violence, and acts of torture.

Why the Dahbia Benkired verdict is legally historic

France reserves irreducible life for its most egregious offenses: multiple murders, killings tied to terrorism, and murders involving torture of a minor. While men have received this punishment in past cases, no woman had been sentenced under this regimen until now. Friday’s decision will be studied in law faculties and judicial seminars as a benchmark for how courts articulate proportionality and public safety in child-murder cases involving sexual violence.

Political and social reverberations—what changes now?

The 2022 killing fueled intense national debate on security, migration enforcement, and social services. While legislative outcomes are not dictated by a single case, renewed scrutiny is likely to fall on:

• Enforcement of expulsion orders: Whether administrative tools and inter-agency coordination function as intended when individuals are flagged for removal.

• Child protection protocols: Resources for early warning, school-to-home safety practices, and rapid response when minors go missing.

• Victim support systems: Long-term psychological and financial support not only for immediate relatives but for communities affected by high-profile violence.

Advocates caution against allowing a single tragedy to prewrite broad policy, urging reforms grounded in data rather than reaction. At the same time, Friday’s sentence will be cited by those arguing that France’s penal code already contains the maximum deterrent for the rarest, most brutal crimes.

Timeline of the Lola Daviet case

• October 14, 2022: Lola, 12, disappears in the 19th arrondissement; her body is later found in a trunk near the building where her family works.

• Mid-October 2022: An investigation leads to the arrest and charging of Dahbia Benkired.

• Pre-trial (2023–2025): Forensic, video, and witness evidence compiled; psychiatric evaluations confirm criminal responsibility.

• October 17, 2025: Trial opens in Paris; the court hears graphic testimony from experts and the family.

• October 24, 2025: Verdict and life without parole sentence delivered.

What happens next

The defense retains the right to appeal within the statutory deadline, which would move the case to a higher assize court for a full retrial on facts and sentencing. In parallel, the court’s civil judgments addressing damages to the victim’s relatives may also be revisited if an appeal proceeds. Until then, the sentence takes immediate effect, and Benkired remains incarcerated under the whole-life regime.

The lasting question

Friday’s ruling provides a legal endpoint, but not an emotional one. The name Lola has become shorthand in France for a child taken and a family transformed by grief. The court’s message—through the rarest sentence available—is that certain crimes extinguish any ordinary calculus of time and release. Whether this moment translates into durable improvements in protection and prevention will be the next, harder test beyond the courtroom.