Iliana "Lily" Peter's death was ruled a Homicide.

It all started with a frantic call to the police by the father of a 10-year-old girl, who failed to return home after a visit with a family member. Lily’s father, Alexander Peters reported his daughter missing on Sunday night after she failed to return home from visiting her aunt. Authorities began searching for Lilly immediately and stumbled upon a bicycle presumed to belong to the young girl near a walking trail not too far from her aunt’s home. On Monday morning, authorities located the lifeless body of the 10-year-old girl in a wooded area near that same walking trail. The news spread rapidly that Lily had been found deceased, and when the news released that her death was being ruled a homicide, it left the small town of 15,000 in shock. Authorities had warned the public to be vigilant of the surroundings, unknown to authorities at the time that the killer would be related to Lily.

Authorities received some 200 tips regarding the homicide of Lilly Peters, and on Tuesday, authorities said they had arrested a 14-year-old suspect at his home, located on the same block as Lily’s aunt’s house.

The unnamed teenager appeared in court via video and is being held on a 1-million-dollar bond following a confession to authorities. Prosecutors said on Wednesday that the 14-year-old suspect told them that he “punched, strangled, and sexually assaulted her”. Prosecutors went on to state that “he’d been planning to rape and kill Peters “from the get-go” on Sunday night when he began following her down a trial after she left her aunt’s house”. At the bond hearing on Wednesday, the Chippewa County District Attorney, Wade Newell told the judge “protection of the community also is necessary in this case given his statements regarding his intentions and his statements regarding that when he did get off the trail, he 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”.

Judge Ben Lane ordered a 1-million-dollar cash bond on the recommendation of the prosecution deeming the boy “a serious threat to the community” The suspect's defense team argued that his bond should be lowered to 100,000 cash stating that due to his age and inability to drive he was not a flight risk and should not be deemed a serious risk of flight.

The Chippewa County District Attorney said that they have charged the boy 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. It was also reported that Judge Lane has sealed the criminal complaint, presumably due to the suspect’s age. Prosecutors have not released the name of the suspect but have stated that he has lived in Chippewa County, Wisconsin his entire life and that he and the victim were cousins.

It was further reported that the father of the 14-year-old suspect is a convicted pedophile. Charged with 10 counts of possessing child porn in 2017 and he was handed down just a 3-year sentence. It was said at this time that the suspect was not living with his father, but more confirmation is needed for accuracy. The preliminary autopsy results for 10-year-old Iliana Peters said that the young girl’s death was homicide by strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Although the suspect is a juvenile, he is being charged as an adult and two of his charges carry life in prison. Continue following as more information is released in this case.