TEEN COUSIN WHO LURED LILY PETERS, 10, INTO THE WOODS IS SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. — More than four years after 10-year-old Lily Peters disappeared while riding her bicycle home from her aunt’s house, the case has reached a heartbreaking conclusion.

Carson T. Peters-Berger, who was 14 years old when Lily was killed and is now 18, has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree intentional homicide in the 2022 murder of his young cousin.

Under the sentence, Peters-Berger will become eligible for extended supervision after serving 25 years in prison.

The sentencing brings an end to a case that shocked the small Wisconsin community and left Lily’s family waiting years for justice.

LILY DISAPPEARED ON HER WAY HOME

Lily was reported missing on the evening of April 24, 2022, after she left her aunt’s home in Chippewa Falls and headed toward her own home.

She was riding her bicycle.

When she failed to arrive, her family immediately became concerned.

The search continued through the night.

The following day, investigators discovered Lily’s body in a wooded area near the Duncan Creek walking trail, close to where her bicycle had been found.

She was only 10 years old.

HER COUSIN EVENTUALLY CONFESSED

Investigators soon focused on Peters-Berger, Lily’s teenage cousin.

According to court records, Peters-Berger admitted that he had persuaded Lily to leave the trail and accompany him into the woods.

He later confessed to attacking and strangling her.

Authorities said he had intended to sexually assault Lily and ultimately killed her.

Afterward, he fled the area before returning and attempting to conceal her body with leaves.

The details revealed during the investigation transformed what had initially been a missing-child search into a homicide investigation that would dominate the community for years.

HE WAS ONLY 14 AT THE TIME

One of the most complicated aspects of the case was Peters-Berger’s age.

He was just 14 years old when Lily was killed.

His defense attorneys fought to have the case transferred to juvenile court, arguing that he was a child who needed intensive mental-health treatment and that the adult criminal system was inappropriate for someone his age.

The courts rejected those efforts.

The case ultimately remained in adult court because of the seriousness of the homicide allegations.

THE TRIAL WILL NEVER HAPPEN

Peters-Berger initially faced multiple serious charges, including first-degree intentional homicide and sexual-assault charges.

But the long-awaited trial was ultimately canceled after he reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

He pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide.

Two sexual-assault charges were dismissed as part of the agreement, although the allegations were still considered by the court during sentencing.

By entering the guilty plea, Peters-Berger accepted responsibility for Lily’s killing without putting her family through a full trial.

LILY’S FAMILY SPEAKS IN COURT

At the sentencing hearing, Lily’s loved ones described the devastating impact her death had on the family.

They remembered her not simply as the victim of a horrific crime, but as a 10-year-old girl with a personality, dreams and a future that should have stretched decades ahead of her.

Lily was remembered as kind and loving.

Her family also shared a poem she had written, reflecting her hopes for kindness, peace and an endless summer.

Those words offered a painful reminder of how much life Lily never had the chance to experience.

A FAMILY’S FOUR-YEAR WAIT FOR JUSTICE

The murder happened in April 2022.

For more than four years, Lily’s family had to live with the knowledge that the person responsible was still moving through the legal system.

There were questions about Peters-Berger’s age, his mental health, the appropriate court system and whether the case would ultimately go to trial.

Now, those questions have been answered.

Peters-Berger is going to prison for life.

But his eligibility for extended supervision after 25 years has also become a painful part of the family’s reality.

THE CASE CHANGED A COMMUNITY

Lily’s disappearance sparked a massive search in Chippewa Falls.

Her bicycle became an important clue as investigators retraced her final movements.

The discovery of her body devastated a community that had spent hours hoping she would be found alive.

The fact that the person responsible was a teenage family member made the tragedy even more difficult to comprehend.

FOUR YEARS LATER, THE FINAL CHAPTER

Peters-Berger is now 18.

Lily would have been a teenager herself.

Instead, her family is left remembering the 10-year-old girl she was when her life was taken.

The sentence cannot undo what happened on that wooded trail.

It cannot return Lily to her parents or give her family the future they imagined for her.

But the guilty plea means the legal uncertainty is finally over.

Carson Peters-Berger will spend life in prison for killing his 10-year-old cousin.

For Lily’s family, the case is finally closed in court — even though the pain of losing her will never truly end.

Lily Peters was only 10 when she left her aunt’s home and started riding her bicycle toward her own house. She never made it home. More than four years later, her cousin has been sentenced to life in prison. Now, her family can focus on what they want Lily to be remembered for: not the horror of how she died, but the little girl she was and the life she should have been allowed to live.