14-year-old boy planned attack, rape, murder of 10-year-old, prosecutors say

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — Officials say a 14-year-old boy strangled and then sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl in Wisconsin.

A 14-year-old boy accused of killing a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl knew the girl and planned the attack, knocking her down and choking her before sexually assaulting her, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The body of Illiana “Lily” Peters was found Monday along a walking trail just a day after she went missing while returning home from an aunt’s house a few blocks away, sparking anxiety in her small western Wisconsin community before the teenager’s arrest Tuesday.

The boy, identified only by his initials, appeared in adult court in Chippewa County by video from a juvenile detention center. Judge Benjamin Lane agreed to District Attorney Wade Newell’s request for $1 million cash bond.

TRENDING STORIES:

• Video shows teen pulling gun on woman along busy part of Atlanta BeltLine
• Chick-fil-A bringing back breakfast favorite after 6 years
• Board of education fires DeKalb County Schools superintendent; names interim

Lane said the high bond was necessary to protect the community given the teen’s “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,” Newell told the judge at the bond hearing.

The teen made statements “that his intention was to rape and kill the victim from the get-go,” Newell said.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

The teen made statements “that his intention was to rape and kill the victim from the get-go,” Newell said.

The defense had argued for $100,000 cash bond.

The judge sealed the criminal complaint, but Newell said after the hearing that the boy is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13 resulting in great bodily harm.

Video shows teen pulling gun on woman along busy part of Atlanta BeltLine

©2022 Cox Media Group