A teen boy has been charged for the sexual assault and murder of 10-year-old Wisconsin girl Lily Peters whose body was found in a wooded area near a brewery parking in Chippewa Falls on Monday morning. The 14-year-old, identified as CP-B in the court records, was the victim's cousin.
According to the Chippewa Falls Police Department, Peters was reported missing by her father when she failed to return home after meeting family on Sunday night. Her father said that Lily had gone to her aunt's house on Sunday evening, which is nearby. The girl was a fourth-grader at the town's Parkview Elementary School.
Suspect Assaulted Punched Peters in Stomach
Grisly details emerged during the bond hearing of the 14-year-old suspect. The Independent reported that during the bond hearing the prosecutors argued that that the suspect's intention was to rape and kill the victim from the get-go." The teenager committed the alleged crime after he led the 10-year-old along a wooded trail from her aunt's home.
"Protection of [the] community also is necessary in this case given his statements regarding his intentions and his statements regarding that when he did get off the trail, he punched the victim in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, essentially strangled her, hit her with a stick, before strangling her to the point of death -- before he then sexually assaulted her," Chippewa County District Attorney Wade Newell said.
The outlet reported that the eight-grade student was arrested after the police carried out a search warrant at victim's aunt's home on Tuesday. According to the defence team, the alleged accused was staying in Chippewa Falls with his mother.
Suspect to be Tried as Adult
Newell stated that the teenager has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault with a child under age 13 resulting in great bodily harm and could face life in prison if convicted on the top charge.
Speaking to Fox News, the DA office confirmed that the suspect had been charged as an adult. Judge Benjamin Lane has set the bond at $1 million along with ordering the alleged accused to avoid contact with minors, except his siblings, so long as such contact is supervised.
Following the arrest, Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matt Kelm said, "While nothing will bring Lily Peters back or change what happened, we are very grateful to deliver this news to the family and the community."
"As you can imagine, our first responders are tremendously impacted by anything that impacts one of our children," Kelm said, "so it is very difficult for them, and the investigators."
