Judge Sets $1M Bond For 14-Year-Old Suspect Charged As Adult In Lily Peters’ Horrific Murder In Wisconsin

The suspect in the murder of 10-year-old Wisconsin girl, Lily Peters, is a 14-year-old eighth-grader, prosecutors said Wednesday.

He is facing three charges: first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13, resulting in great bodily harm, District Attorney Wade Newell said.

The defendant, who was arrested Tuesday, made statements to law enforcement that “his intention was to rape and kill the victim from the get-go” when they went down the wooded trail where her body was found Monday, the prosecutor said at a hearing.

Newell argued there was a need to protect the community and also a concern regarding the defendant fleeing, given the severity of the punishment he potentially faces for the charges against him.

Judge Benjamin J. Lane agreed to a $1 million cash bond requested by the state, with the conditions that the defendant, identified only as “C.P-B.,” have no contact with other juveniles and have no dangerous weapons.

Karl Schmidt, an attorney for the defendant, had argued that his client doesn’t pose a flight risk.

“He cannot drive. He is not in a position to raise much money, frankly, at all on his own. He resides with his mother. He is a lifetime resident of Chippewa County,” Schmidt said.

Newell said the defendant made a statement to law enforcement that he punched the victim in the stomach, knocking her to ground, “essentially strangled her, hit her with a stick, before strangling her to the point of death, before he then sexually assaulted her.”

The juvenile defendant’s next hearing is set for the afternoon of May 5; he will appear via video, not in person.

Newell said it is premature to make any determinations regarding whether the case will remain in adult court. In Wisconsin, first-degree intentional homicide, which is the first count in the criminal complaint, by law originally starts in adult court.

Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matthew Kelm told reporters Tuesday evening that “the suspect was not a stranger, the suspect was known to the victim.”

Lily was reported missing by her father on Sunday night after she failed to return from her aunt’s house, a few blocks from her home.

Her bicycle was discovered in a wooded area by a walking trail, and the body was found the next morning.

At a news conference Monday, Kelm did not elaborate on how the girl was killed or what evidence was found at the scene. Kelm said Tuesday authorities received more than 200 tips.

“These tips were critical to solving this case,” he said.