WARNING: Some readers may find the details of this story disturbing. A 14-year-old boy accused of killing a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl knew the girl and planned the attack, hitting her down and strangling her before sexually assaulting her, a prosecutor said Wednesday. Illiana “Lily” Peters’s body was found Monday on a hiking trail just a day after she was lost on her way home from an aunt’s home a few blocks away, causing concern in her small community in western Wisconsin before the teen was arrested. Tuesday. The boy, identified only by his initials, appeared in an adult court in Chippewa County via video from a juvenile detention center. Judge Benjamin Lane agreed to prosecutor Wade Newell’s request for a $ 1 million bail bond. Lane said the high tie was necessary to protect the community given the “teenager’s statements about his intentions and his statements that when he came down the path, he punched the victim in the stomach, hit him on the ground, effectively strangled her.” . “He hit her with a stick before strangling her to death – before sexually assaulting her,” Newell told the judge during the bond hearing. The teenager made statements “that his intention was to rape and kill the victim from the first moment,” Newell said. The defense had argued for a $ 100,000 bond in cash. The judge sealed the criminal case, but Newell said after the hearing that the boy was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault on a child under the age of 13 resulting in major bodily harm. Wisconsin law generally requires minors 10 years of age and older to be prosecuted as adults when charged with premeditated homicide. The judge scheduled a hearing for the case on May 5. Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matthew Kelm announced the suspect’s arrest Tuesday night, after police earlier issued a search warrant for Lily’s aunt’s home and the last place the girl was seen before she disappeared. Kelm said police received more than 200 pieces of advice, calling them “critical” to the investigation. “While nothing will bring Lily Peters back or change what happened, we are very grateful to be able to spread the word about the family and the community,” Kelm said. People in the city of about 13,000 left drawings, flowers, candles and stuffed animals at Lily Elementary School and on a downtown bridge to remember the girl, with some residents dressing in purple to honor her. Chelsea Thorgerson said she kept her daughter at home on Tuesday, before the arrest was announced, “just for my peace of mind”. “I know these things happen in the world every day, but they are so close,” he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Chippewa Falls is located approximately 100 miles (161 kilometers) east of the Twin Cities.
