Wisconsin Teen Gets Life Sentence for Killing 10-Year-Old Cousin

An 18-year-old Wisconsin man has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to the 2022 murder of his 10-year-old cousin.

Carson Peters-Berger entered the plea on Wednesday in Chippewa County court. He was 14 years old at the time of the killing.

Lily Peters disappeared on April 24, 2022, while riding her bike home from her aunt's house in Chippewa Falls. According to the criminal complaint, Peters-Berger persuaded her to leave the trail and go into nearby woods with him. Her body was found the next day.

An autopsy determined the girl had been beaten, strangled, and sexually assaulted. Peters-Berger was arrested the day after her body was discovered.

Judge Steven Gibbs accepted the guilty plea and imposed the life sentence. As part of a plea agreement, two related charges — first-degree sexual assault causing great bodily harm and first-degree child sexual assault involving a child under 13 — were dismissed.

Before the plea, Peters-Berger's defense team had sought to move the case to juvenile court, where proceedings are confidential. They argued their client would not receive adequate mental health treatment in the adult system. The judge rejected that request, citing the seriousness of the offenses, and a state appeals court upheld the decision to keep the case in adult court.