Killing of Chippewa Falls girl: Charges reveal graphic details of Lily Peters' death
Illiana "Lily" Peters
(FOX 9) - A newly unsealed criminal complaint reveals additional graphic details about the killing of Iliana "Lily" Peters, a 10-year-old girl from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.
The redacted criminal complaint describing gruesome details of Peters' murder was made public by a judge in a court hearing on Thursday after its sealed filing on April 27.
A 14-year-old boy, whose identity is redacted in the complaint, is facing charges of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault, and first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13 resulting in great bodily harm. He was arrested on Tuesday, April 26.
WARNING: The following details are graphic and not suitable for young people or sensitive readers. Please use your own discretion.
Around 9 p.m. on April 24, Lily's dad reported her missing after she didn't come home from her aunt's house. Around two hours later, he went out to look for her and found her bike near a wooded area in Chippewa Falls, not far from the Leinenkugel's brewery. Multiple officers conducted a search but did not find her.
The next morning around 9 a.m., a searcher found Lily's dead body, not far from where her bike was found, according to the complaint. Investigators with the Chippewa Falls Police Department responded and found Lily's partially naked body, noting she had injuries consistent with blunt force trauma to her head.
On April 26, a detective interviewed the teen, who admitted to helping Lily get her bike at her aunt's house. He said he was riding a hoverboard on the trail while Lily rode her bike. He told the detective "when they left the house it was already his intention to rape and kill (Lily)," the complaint states.
The 14-year-old explained he asked Lily to go exploring off the trail. He carried his hoverboard and Lily carried her bike, the complaint alleges. He said once they were off the trail, he punched Lily in the stomach and knocked her to the ground. Then he struck her in the head three times with a large stick and strangled her until she was dead.
Once he believed she was dead, he sexually assaulted her. But then he got scared and fled the area, the complaint said. He went home, showered and put his dirty clothes in the laundry.
When he heard Lily was missing, he went back to her body, "drug her a few feet, and covered her with leaves," the complaint states.
The teen had his second court hearing Thursday afternoon and remains in custody under a $1 million cash bond.