The Wisconsin boy accused of killing 10-year-old Lily Peters in Chippewa Falls, Wis., told police that he lured her deeper into the woods near their homes by saying they should go exploring, and then returned to her body later and covered it with leaves, according to new information released Friday.
Chippewa Falls court releases criminal complaint in Lily Peters death
Document spells out state's case against the 14-year-old accused of murdering Peters.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
May 6, 2022 at 6:38PM
The boy, who has been identified in court only by his initials, was arrested April 26, two days after Lily went missing. He is being held on $1 million bail in Eau Claire.
The new details are contained in a redacted criminal complaint that Chippewa County Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Lane ordered to be made public. It confirms and expands the version of events shared by Chippewa County District Attorney Wade C. Newell in the boy's first court appearance last week.
The boy's attorney could not be reached for comment Friday.
According to the complaint, Lily's father, Alexis Peters, notified police at 9 p.m. April 24 that she had gone missing after visiting her aunt's house a few blocks from home. Peters went to look for her and at 11 p.m. found her bike near the woods east of the Leinie's Lodge at 124 Elm St.
Police officers searched into the night but Lily was not located until the next day at 8:54 a.m., when someone who knew her found her body not far from where her bicycle had been found.
Details in the complaint say:
In an interview April 26, the boy told Eau Claire police detective Wayne Bjorkman that Lily was on her bike and he was riding a hoverboard as they followed a paved trail. He said it was his intention to rape and kill her. He told Lily that they should go exploring off the trail. The boy said he punched her and then hit her in the head three times with a stick and strangled her until he believed she was dead, then sexually assaulted her. He then got scared and fled.
After the attack, he went home, showered and put his dirty clothes in the laundry. When he heard that Peters had been reported missing, he decided he needed to hide her body better and went back to the crime scene, where he dragged her body a few feet and covered it with leaves.
