Liliana “Lily” Peters, 10, died of severe force injuries and strangling, according to preliminary autopsy results, and her death was deemed a homicide.
On Thursday, Chippewa County Coroner Ron Patten verified the details to The Independent, adding the entire autopsy report would take several weeks.
The preliminary findings back up the version of events presented in court on Wednesday, when a 14-year-old boy was charged 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 and was held on a $1 million bond.
Prosecutors claimed the youngster, who knew his victim, dragged Lily down a walking track near her aunt’s house, punching her in the stomach, knocking her to the ground, hitting her with a stick, strangling her before sexually abusing her.
When they left Lily’s aunt’s house together on Sunday, the adolescent, identified by his initials C P-B, reportedly confessed to police that “his objective was to rape and kill the victim from the get-go.”
Lily’s father reported her missing that night, and her body was located beside the trail the next morning.