Lily Peters, the 10-year-old girl who prosecutors say was killed by a 14-year-old in Wisconsin died by strangulation and blunt force trauma, according to the Chippewa County Coroner.
Preliminary autopsy findings determined the cause of Peters’ death to be homicide, CNN reported.
The 14-year-old suspect has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child under the age of 13, resulting in great bodily harm, according to District Attorney Wade Newell.
Newell cited confessions made by the suspect, who after he was arrested Tuesday said he planned ‘to rape and kill the victim from the get-go when he left the house with the victim going down the trail.’
The 14-year-old boy ‘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 said.
Officials have said the boy left the same house as Lily on Sunday night, but have not confirmed how they knew each other.
Arguing the need to protect the community, Newell requested the teenager’s bond be set to $1million cash. The judge agreed with the conditions that the defendant, identified only by the initials ‘C.P-B,’ has no contact with other juveniles or dangerous weapons.
In response to the bond, C. P-B’s attorney argued the teen does not 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,’ said his attorney, Karl Schmidt.
The teenage suspect’s next hearing is set for May 5, during which he will appear via video, according to CNN.
Lily’s body was found around 9am Monday morning just blocks from her aunt’s home near a trail and brewery parking lot. The previous night her father had reported her missing when she failed to return home after a visit with family.
Authorities searching for her found what appeared to be her bicycle abandoned along the wooded trail. Her remains were soon found after.
Following Lily’s tragic death, Chippewa Falls residents have kicked off a petition looking to improve the way authorities alert the public about missing children.
Advocates say there was no Amber Alert issues for Lily ‘due to the rules around what constitutes its use,’ Fox News reported.
‘We need something more,’ petition organizer Eric Henry wrote. ‘Any parent would agree that when a child is missing, even for a short amount of time and they need help, then help should be sent.’
Following the arrest of the juvenile suspected of killing Lily, a Reddit thread that may have played a role in his arrest made rounds on the Internet.
On the thread, an anonymous poster wrote about a possible sighting of the 10-year-old girl ‘with another kid.’ When that poster went quiet, one user took it upon themselves to alert authorities to the possible tip.
Angela Osment called the Chippewa Falls police from her home in Virginia, she told The Sun.
‘This person places themselves at the scene and could possibly have been the last person to see Lily alive,’ she said.
‘We wanted to know who was the person you saw her with? What was he wearing? How tall? How old? But then he wasn’t answering … So I took it upon myself to call the police,’ Osment said.
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