CHIPPEWA FALLS (NBC 26) — A Chippewa County man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the 2022 murder of 10-year-old Lily Peters.
Carson Peters-Berger, 18, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. The Associated Press reports he was a cousin of the victim.
According to reports from the AP, Lily was reported missing on the evening of April 24, 2022, after she did not return from visiting her aunt's house in Chippewa Falls. Peters-Berger, who was 14 at the time, told detectives that he was riding his hoverboard alongside the girl on a trail, intending to sexually assault her and kill her.
The complaint stated he then asked Lily to leave the trail and explore the woods with him, where he assaulted the girl. Peters-Berger "became scared" and left the scene, but later came back to cover Lily's body with leaves, the AP reported at the time.
According to NBC affiliate WEAU, Peters-Berger previously pleaded not guilty in December 2024 to adult charges of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault causing great bodily harm and first-degree child sexual assault. A jury trial that was initially scheduled for this November is off the books.
