A dead 18-month-oldLily Jean Schettini was found in her room, and the police still don’t know who did it.

Losing a loved one out of the blue can be heartbreaking, but when that loved one is a child, the pain can be too much to bear. Children are expected to live long, fruitful lives with many years ahead of them, not pass away before their second birthday.

Lily Jean Schettini

Lily Jean Schettini was 18 months old and lived in South Australia in the town of Smithfield Plains. She lived with her mother, Jessica Schettini, her mother’s boyfriend, and her younger sister, Charlotte, who was three years old.

Lily and Charlotte were two little girls who depended on their caretakers to watch over them and keep them safe. One of them would never get the chance to grow up and live a happy life.

Death

Another couple had been staying with Jessica and her boyfriend for a few days. At 9:30 a.m. on May 2, 2010, Jessica and the other woman she was with left for the day. Since Lily and Charlotte shared a room, Jessica didn’t check on them because she didn’t want to wake them up.

Jessica thought her boyfriend and a male friend would take care of her daughters when she left them with them. One of the two men left the house at 11:30 a.m., leaving the other man alone with the two girls. The police, however, have decided not to say which man was left at home.

The man who stayed in the house said he heard Lily crying in her room around 11:30 a.m., and when he went to check on her, he saw that she needed her diaper changed. Lily is said to have gone back to sleep after her diaper was changed.

But when Lily didn’t get up by 12:30 p.m., the man went to check on her and found that she wasn’t moving. Before the paramedics got there, he asked the neighbours for help, and they tried to save Lily. Even though they tried their best, Lily had already died and could not be brought back to life.

Investigation of Case

The South Australia Police Department looked into Lily’s case to find out what had happened to the young girl. The medical examiner found that Lily had died from blunt head trauma, which could have been caused by being shaken or hit in the head.

The medical examiner was not able to figure out when the person died. The medical examiner thought Lily’s wounds might have happened the night before she was found, but it was more likely that they happened that morning.

Even though there had been no other complaints from the family, the police think that Lily and her sister Charlotte were often left alone in their bedroom for hours at a time without being checked on. The police thought it was likely that the girls were not cared for.

The investigation by the police took three years. Even though the police were sure that one of the four adults in the house killed Lily, they don’t think they have reliable information about what happened in the house before Lily died. No one was charged with Lily’s murder, though, because there wasn’t enough evidence.

Case Revisited

People were worried that Lily’s case wasn’t getting enough attention and didn’t want it to get lost. Residents of South Australia thought Lily had been ignored during her life, and they didn’t want her to be ignored after she died either. So, they asked for a separate investigation into her death.

In 2017, Lily’s case was looked at again by the South Australia Police Department’s Major Crime Investigation Branch. The government of South Australia is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person who killed Lily. They hope that the cash reward will encourage someone to tell what they know.

Present Day

Lily Jean Schettini’s biological father Michael Schmitt  is devastated over the loss of his daughter. He never expected to lose her in such a tragic way and thought he’d get to watch his baby girl grow up. He hopes to see his daughter’s case resolved and the person who killed her brought to justice.

If you have any information regarding Lily Jean Schettini’s case, please don’t hesitate to contact Crime Stoppers South Australia at 1–800–333–000.