“You’ve already killed her. Why won’t you leave her alone?”

Lauren Sylvia Belius was born on September 16th, 2004.

In the six years of her life, Lauren grew to become a lively and loving girl.

Always on the move, had a variety of interests ranging from ballet, to soccer, and Tae Kwon Do.

She lived a happy life with her mother, Allison, her older brother, and twin sister Erica.

She enjoyed spending time with her father, John Belius Jr., and he affectionately nick-named her as “the queen”.

Her family would note Lauren’s compassion as one of her strongest personality traits.

She had a soft spot for all living things, especially animals.

At one time Lauren had chosen herself to cut her long, blonde hair to donate to Locks of Love.

Lauren had just completed the first grade and despite how much she enjoyed school, she was eager to celebrate the summer season.

Her days were filled with bike rides, playing in the small, plastic pool that sat in their backyard, and various, exciting outings with her family.

During one of those final, sunny days Lauren went a water park called “Enchanted Forest Water Safari” with her siblings and father.

Everyone had a great time.

Lauren dubbed it “the best day ever.”

On the night of July 18th, 2011 Allison Belius tucked her children into bed, safe and sound.

She then, too, went to sleep.

As morning rolled around, Allison was woken by the jarring sound of young children screaming.

The horrific noise was coming from her daughter’s room.

This was no nightmare; it was her reality.

Allison jumped out of bed and ran to her daughter’s room.

The door would not budge.

Immediately she knew that it must have been David Trebilcock, her boyfriend of over a year, who guarding the entrance.

Desperately, Allison continued to fight against the door until she was able to push her way in.

Once inside she found that it was not her boyfriend that was keeping her out.

The dresser had been moved to barricade the door.

Terbilcock was on the ladder of the girls’ bunk beds where the two girls were trapped.

In his hand he held a 9 inch steak knife, which he was using to stab Lauren.

Once she realized what was happening, Allison screamed at him to stop.

Trebilcock turned to her and said in a cold, unfamiliar voice, “She’s not your baby. She needs to die.”

The fight for Laurent’s life began.

Allison charged at Trebilcock and managed to pull him away from her daughter.

As she checked on Lauren, Trebilcock began to mutilate himself.

But the family’s nightmare would not end there.

In another spurt of rage, Trebilcock charged at them again, determined to cause even more damage to the young girl’s body.

Allison continued to fend him off.

During the commotion, the railings to the top bunk broke, and Lauren’s limp body fell face down onto the floor.

At this time Lauren was still alive.

Her mother began CPR in a desperate attempt to keep her heart beating.

Trebilcock’s savagery was relentless.

He stabbed himself, and once again continued to attack the child.

Using one arm, he pulled back Allison and restrained her.

Then, using his other hand, he stabbed Lauren again, this time in the chest.

Throughout the struggle Allison begged for him to stop.

At one point she remembers telling him, “You’ve already killed her. Why won’t you leave her alone?”

At one point, Allison was also stabbed.

The knife went into her in the chest and became stuck there.

This was a painful token of luck.

It bid her enough time to grab a hold of the blade, ultimately severing the tendons in one finger.

Allison gained control of the knife and began to furiously attack the man she once trusted.

Despite the damage she inflicted upon him, Trebilcock managed to survive.

David Trebilcock refused to stay down.

He grabbed the broken railing from the bunk bed and charged at Lauren again.

Allison was ready.

As Trebilcock drew closer, she grabbed the end of the railing and pushed back against him with all of her strength, ramming him into the closet.

The fight was finally over.

Although still alive, Trebilcock had been rendered unconscious.

In the course of 25 minutes Lauren was stabbed a total of 24 times.

She died that morning after both her mother and paramedics tried to revive her.

She was six years old.

What could drive a man to murder a child so savagely?

Throughout the trial David Trebilcock claimed it was insanity.

He said at that time he believed Lauren was evil and that her death was the only way he could end it.

While the defense lawyer did not argue against his client’s guilt in Lauren’s murder, he claimed Trebilcock could not fully understand the consequences of his actions.

This was backed up by Dr. Lawrence Farago, who had origionally been hired by the prosecution team before being called in as a witness for Treblicock’s defense.

He stated that, in the days leading up to the murder, Treblicock showed strong psychotic symptoms that consistent with paranoid schizophrenia.

In the end, the jury agreed.

Trebilcock was found not guilty by reason of mental disease, and was committed to a secure psychiatric facility for one year, where he would be evaluated every two years to see if he was fit for release.

As of 2018 he has yet to pass.

The Belius family was outraged by the verdict.

They felt justice had not been served for their beloved daughter’s gruesome end.

It has been said that, in the last few days leading up to her death, Lauren has been acting troubled.

Some close to the case believe that Trebilcock had been abusing Lauren and set out to ultimately silence the girl by murder, then used the insanity defense to avoid jail time.

These suspicions have not been proven.

In a 2016 interview with Dr. Phil, Allison Belius said Trebilcock had told her a disturbing story earlier in July in which he admitted to once having inappropriate relationships with a 12 year old girl, on whom he put sole blame for the encounter.

After hearing this story, Allison began to make plans to transition out of the relationship in a safe way for her family.

Lauren’s family continues to fight for her.

In February, 2012 advocating for change in New York state law in regards to mentally ill people who have committed crimes against children.

It is the Belius family’s hope that, with stricter laws in place, after being cleared from their psychiatric facility they would be then transferred to serve out the rest of their sentence.