Dahbia Benkired Sentenced to Life Without Parole for the Murder of Lola Daviet, a First for a Woman in France

A Paris criminal court has sentenced Dahbia Benkired to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the 2022 rape and murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet—France’s harshest penalty and the first time it has been imposed on a woman since the sanction entered French law in 1994. The decision, delivered Friday, October 24, follows a weeklong trial that revisited a crime that horrified the country and ignited intense debate over immigration, mental health evaluations, and public safety.

Verdict in the Lola Daviet case: life without parole

Judges concluded that the offense met the legal threshold for “real life” imprisonment, citing the extreme cruelty inflicted on the victim. Benkired, 27, was found guilty of abducting, sexually assaulting, torturing, and killing the schoolgirl before concealing her body in a trunk at the building where Lola lived with her family. The court’s ruling emphasized the lasting psychological devastation to the victim’s relatives and the gravity of the acts committed.

The sentence—rare in France—means no eligibility for parole. It sets a landmark in jurisprudence, underscoring both the brutality of the crime and the court’s assessment of the defendant’s dangerousness and lack of mitigating mental impairment.

Psychiatric findings and legal stakes

During the proceedings, court-appointed experts testified that Benkired did not suffer from a psychiatric disorder that would abolish or significantly alter criminal responsibility. That assessment cleared the way for a full criminal conviction and the maximum penalty. Defense arguments that invoked altered states, hallucinations, or coercion were weighed against forensic evidence, witness accounts, and Benkired’s shifting statements in earlier interrogations.

In French criminal practice, a finding of “abolished discernment” could have reduced or transformed the nature of punishment. Here, the experts’ conclusions and the court’s reading of the facts aligned on full accountability.

A timeline of the case: from October 2022 to October 2025

• October 14, 2022: Lola Daviet is reported missing in Paris’s 19th arrondissement.

• October 15, 2022: Her body is discovered concealed in a trunk within the building complex.

• October 2022: Benkired is arrested and placed in pretrial detention.

• 2023–2024: Investigative magistrates, forensic teams, and psychiatric experts complete reports; a trial date is set.

• October 2025: The trial opens in the Paris Cour d’assises; witnesses, investigators, and medical experts testify.

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

Why the Dahbia Benkired sentence is unprecedented

France’s “perpétuité réelle” is reserved for the most heinous crimes, typically involving multiple victims, acts of torture, or the murder of public officials. While imposed only a handful of times in three decades—and previously only on men—Friday’s ruling extends that narrow category to a female offender for the first time. The court underscored elements of sadism and prolonged suffering that, in its view, justified the country’s ultimate penalty.

The ruling will likely be studied in future cases for how the court balanced psychiatric assessments, forensic reconstruction, and the defendant’s contradictory narratives against the statutory criteria for irreducible life terms.

Public reaction and broader implications

The murder of Lola Daviet has resonated far beyond the courthouse. In the years since the crime, the case has been invoked in political arguments over deportation orders, enforcement timelines, and the handling of undocumented residents. The court, however, repeatedly steered the focus back to the specific facts and legal questions at hand, urging that the proceedings not be turned into a referendum on national policy.

Victims’ advocates hailed the decision as a measure of justice equal to the brutality of the offense, while legal scholars noted the sentence’s rarity and the high bar required to impose it. The outcome is expected to prompt renewed discussion about victim support services, the consistency of forensic and psychiatric evaluations, and the conditions under which “real life” terms should be considered.

What comes next: appeals and legal avenues

Under French procedure, Benkired has the right to appeal the conviction and sentence. An appeal would lead to a new hearing before a different panel of judges and citizen jurors, re-examining both the facts and the penalty. If upheld on appeal, the sentence would stand as final, leaving only limited extraordinary remedies.

For Lola Daviet’s family, Friday’s judgment closes a central chapter of a long and grueling process. While no verdict can repair the loss, the court’s decision inscribes a strong legal response to a crime that shocked the conscience of France.

Key takeaways

• Defendant: Dahbia Benkired, 27 at the time of trial.

• Victim: Lola Daviet, 12, killed in October 2022 in Paris.

• Outcome: Life imprisonment without parole—the country’s maximum penalty and the first such sentence imposed on a woman since the law’s introduction.

• Court rationale: Extreme cruelty, full criminal responsibility, and enduring harm to the family.

• Next steps: Potential appeal; broader debates on policy and victim support likely to continue.

The Lola Daviet case now enters the jurisprudential record as a painful milestone—one that will shape legal debates and public policy discussions for years to come, even as it remains, above all, a family’s tragedy.