Carson Peters-Berger, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide and was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday in a Chippewa County courtroom.
The teen, who was Lily Peters’ cousin, will be eligible for extended supervision in 25 years and was credited with four years already served for time spent behind bars since his arrest at age 14, just days after the 10-year-old’s death in April 2022. The resolution came suddenly after prosecutors announced on August 5 that the scheduled November 2026 trial was off, with a resolution hearing set for weeks later instead.
Peters-Berger was arrested just two days after his cousin was reported missing in Chippewa Falls, where Lily had been visiting her aunt. Her father had reported her missing when she failed to return home, and he eventually found her bike discarded along a wooded path in the Wisconsin city. A search party was quickly assembled, but by the next morning Lily’s body was discovered in the woods near her bike, showing signs of a horrific attack. Peters-Berger told investigators he planned to rape and murder her “from the get-go.” Fox 9, citing a criminal complaint, reported that the teen first punched Lily in the stomach, beat her with a large stick and strangled her until she was dead, then sexually assaulted her. He then went home, showered and put his clothes in the laundry. After hearing his cousin had been reported missing, Peters-Berger returned to the body and attempted to “hide her better,” he reportedly told detectives.
Prosecutors successfully sought to try Peters-Berger as an adult after the horrific details emerged, while Lily’s smiling face was splashed across news coverage in the years leading up to the now-canceled trial.
In the viral moment that first gripped the nation in April 2022, a small Wisconsin community mobilized to search for a missing 10-year-old girl, only to face the devastating discovery of her body in the woods near her abandoned bicycle. The arrest of her own teenage cousin within 48 hours shocked residents further, and the case drew sustained national attention as prosecutors pursued adult charges against the 14-year-old suspect and details of the calculated nature of the attack emerged through court filings.
Peters-Berger’s first-degree sexual assault of a child and first-degree sexual assault charges were both dropped in the plea deal, the Milwaukee Journal reported. He was also ordered to pay more than $30,000 in restitution.
