Perth man charged with raping and killing eight-year-old girl

Sofia's body was found in the toilet by her brother after he chased a man who ran from the scene.

CANBERRA - A 21-year-old man has been charged with the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in a shopping centre toilet in Perth, a crime that has spread anger and anguish through the community.

Sofia Rodrigez-Urrutia-Shu may have been killed inside a cubicle as her teenage brother knocked on its door in a desperate hunt for his little sister.

Even before the boy returned to discover Sofia's naked body, he instinctively chased a man who fled the women's toilets and disappeared in the streets outside the Livingston Marketplace shopping centre in the city's southern suburb of Canning Vale.

The alleged killer was arrested at his parents' home in the area yesterday and was later charged with wilful murder, deprivation of liberty and sexual penetration of a child.

The murder shocked a city already reeling from the killing last week of 15-year-old Eliza Jane Davis, allegedly by her two best friends.

Two 16-year-old girls were charged with her murder in Collie, south of Perth, after they allegedly arrived at separate police stations and told stunned officers of the killing.

No one suspected the crime or that the teenager was missing. Police later found her body in a shallow grave under a house where she had been living with one of her alleged killers.

Now Sofia's death has unleashed a wave of anguish in Perth.

Yesterday, as her father flew home from business in Hong Kong, the family expressed their pain in a statement and pleaded for privacy.

"We are all devastated by the sudden and senseless loss of Sofia," the statement said. "We have received immense support from the police, the parish and from the school community, which we greatly appreciate.

"Please keep Sofia and our family in your thoughts and prayers."

West Australia Police Minister John Kobelke said he had been shocked by the horrendous crime.

Sofia had been at the shopping centre on Monday afternoon with her 14-year-old brother and her uncle when they went to separate male and female toilets.

When Sofia did not meet them they first checked a corridor leading to the shopping centre's carpark, then decided to check the toilet.

"The disabled toilet was occupied and the girl's brother could hear a male voice before a man came out and ran off down to the carpark," Detective Senior Sergeant John Wibberley said in the West Australian.

He said Sofia's brother had instinctively chased the man running from the scene briefly, then returned to find his sister's body.

Shopper Sheila Bateman told ABC radio she had been nearly knocked over as the man fled the scene.

Her husband, Neil Bateman, said he knew immediately the man had done something wrong.

"How can someone do that to an 8-year-old girl?" he said.

A memorial of flowers quickly built up at the murder site yesterday.

Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan said the murder was "a terrible crime" but appealed to the public not to panic.