Boy charged with Lily Peters murder is 14, intended to 'rape and kill' 10 year old
Ten-year-old Lily Peters was killed by a 14-year-old boy, Chippewa County Attorney Wade Newell alleged during a court hearing Wednesday.
Warning: This story contains upsetting details.
The prosecutor said the 8th Grader, identified only by the initials C. P-B and whose relationship to Peters is unknown, had intended to rape and kill the 10 year old.
County Attorney Wade Newell, citing confessions made by the 14-year-old suspect that are posted in the now-sealed criminal complaint, said the boy planned "to rape and kill the victim from the get-go when he left the house with the victim going down the trail."
Iliana "Lily" Peters was reported missing Sunday after failing to return home from visiting her aunt's house on the 400 block of North Grove Street in Chippewa Falls.
Newell said the 14-year-old "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."
The prosecutor's request for a $1 million cash bond was granted by the judge, despite the defense asking for a lesser, $100,000 cash bond.
County Attorney Wade Newell requested a $1 million cash bond due to the severity of the crime, which the judge granted.
Peters' body was discovered around 9:15 a.m. Monday in a wooded area just blocks from her aunt's home, near a walking path and the Leinenkugel's parking lot. Her bicycle was found in the same wooded area the night before, but search efforts came up empty until the following morning.
The suspect was arrested Tuesday evening, with the city's chief of police saying he was "confident that there's no further danger to the community," which served as reassuring words to the town of 14,000 people who had been advised to drop off and pick up all children from school until the case had been solved.
Police executed a search warrant at 422 North Grove Street on Tuesday, though police have not confirmed whose house was searched. But the residence is on the same block where Peters had visited her aunt's home.
According to WEAU-TV, the suspect's next court appearance is May 5.
