A Wisconsin teenager has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2022 murder of his 10-year-old cousin, Lily Peters. Carson Peters-Berger, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide and was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Steven Gibbs to life in prison, with eligibility for extended supervision after serving 25 years.
Prosecutors said Peters-Berger, who was 14 at the time of the crime, lured Lily into the woods on April 24, 2022, as she rode her bike home. He then assaulted and strangled her. As part of a plea deal, charges of first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child were dismissed, but the judge considered them during sentencing.
Initially, prosecutors had agreed to allow Peters-Berger to seek early release after 20 years. However, Judge Gibbs extended the mandatory time to 25 years, citing the severity of the offense. "There is no more egregious offense than first-degree intentional homicide," Gibbs stated, according to the Leader-Telegram. He added that the case "shook this community."
Peters-Berger, who had remained in custody on a $1 million bond since his 2022 arrest, appeared in court in person for the sentencing hearing. He responded to the judge's questions with only "yes" and declined to make a statement.
His attorneys had previously sought to have his case moved to juvenile court, arguing that a life sentence for a minor would be excessive. However, a state appeals court upheld the decision to keep the case in adult court due to the gravity of the offenses.
According to charging documents, Peters-Berger confessed to police that he strangled Lily and then raped her, leaving her body on a trail before returning home. Lily was reported missing by her father around 9 p.m. after she did not return home. Peters-Berger allegedly returned to her body later that night, dragged it off the trail, and covered it with leaves. A volunteer search party discovered her body the following morning.
At the sentencing, Dana Whitcome, the stepmother of Lily's sisters, expressed that the initial agreement for 20 years before parole eligibility was insufficient. "As a family, we don't want to see another family harmed by Mr Peters-Berger. This one act has devastated an entire family on both sides, that will never be the same," she said. Friends of Lily also shared how her loss impacted their lives, with one describing her as "my light."
Chippewa County District Attorney Wade Newell noted that avoiding a trial was beneficial for the family, as it spared them the trauma of hearing graphic testimony. He acknowledged that Peters-Berger has "clear rehabilitative needs that need to be addressed."
Peters-Berger is the son of Adam Berger, a convicted pedophile who served three years in jail for possession of child pornography and was on the sex offender registry. Court documents revealed that 10 pornographic photos of very young girls were found on Adam Berger's phone, along with drug paraphernalia. He was living in a halfway house in Eau Claire at the time of his son's arrest. Prior to Adam Berger's conviction, he had driven his car into Lily's mother, Lauri Davis, while Peters-Berger was a passenger in the vehicle. Adam Berger, while in jail, expressed a desire for unsupervised contact with his son, whom he described as "the best part of me."
Judge Gibbs stated his belief in offering second chances but emphasized that Peters-Berger must take advantage of opportunities for rehabilitation. The victim's family expressed satisfaction with the district attorney's office's pursuit of justice and thanked the community for its support, noting the continued presence of purple lights on porches as a tribute to Lily.