LONDON 

Deividas Skebas was found guilty Thursday of stabbing Lilia Valutyte, 9, to death in a random attack in Lincolnshire, according to the BBC.

Skebas, 26, admitted to killing Lilia but said he was not responsible because of his diminished mental state at the time.

But a jury at the Lincoln Crown Court convicted Skebas of the killing on July 28, 2022, when he stabbed Lilia outside a shop where her mother worked in Boston.

Skebas was remanded in custody. He will be sentenced later this month.

Prosecutors argued that at the time of the stabbing, Skebas knew what he was doing and took actions to avoid detection. They said that the deterioration of his mental health after the stabbing was genuine.

CCTV showed him buying a knife two days before the murder, prowling the area before he murdered Lilia, and then fleeing, police said in a statement. "There was clear evidence that after Skebas killed Lilia, he made preparations to leave the country.”

"The decision will not change our lives. Nothing will bring our child back, the pain will not disappear, and the tears shed will not wash it away," said Lilia’s mother, Lina Savickiene.

Prosecutor Christopher Donnellan told the court it was a "wicked act," and that Skebas knew he was "killing a child."

The jury found Skebas guilty of the murder in an 11 - 1 majority verdict after deliberating for more than seven hours, the BBC reported.