A Wisconsin teenager has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the first-degree intentional homicide of his 10-year-old cousin. Peters-Berger, now 18, will be eligible for parole after serving a minimum of 35 years.
Lily Peters was killed on April 24, 2022, as she rode her bike home from her aunt's house in Chippewa Falls. According to the criminal complaint, Peters-Berger persuaded her to leave a trail and go into the woods with him. Her body was discovered the following day, and an autopsy revealed she had been beaten, strangled, and sexually assaulted.
At the time of the killing, Peters-Berger was 14 years old. He was arrested the day after Lily's body was found.
Chippewa County Judge Steven Gibbs accepted Peters-Berger's guilty plea on Wednesday. Under a plea agreement, charges of first-degree sexual assault causing great bodily harm and first-degree child sexual assault involving a child under 13 were dismissed.
Attorneys for Peters-Berger had sought to have the case moved to juvenile court, arguing that he would not receive adequate mental health treatment in the adult justice system. However, the judge denied this request, citing the severity of the offenses. A state appeals court upheld the decision to keep the case in adult court.