Boy (14) appears in US court charged with murder of 10-year-old girl

The teen has been held on $1m bond for the murder of Liliana ‘Lily’ Peters, whose body was discovered in Wisconsin on Monday morning after she was reported missing by her father the night before.

The suspect was arrested on Tuesday evening after police executed a search warrant at Lily’s aunt’s home, where the fourth-grade student was last seen alive.

Police have said that the suspect, who was known to Lily, confessed to leading the 10-year-old along a wooded trail before strangling and sexually assaulting her.

Referred to by his initials C P-B, appeared in court for the first time for a bond hearing on Wednesday on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault, and first-degree sexual assault of a child under the age 13 resulting in great bodily harm.

Prosecutors said the teenager told police “his intention was to rape and kill the victim from the get-go” when they left a house together and headed along a nearby trail on Sunday.

The suspect then allegedly punched Lily in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, hit her with a stick and strangled her before sexually assaulting her.

The teen remains in custody at a juvenile detention centre, where he will have no contact with any other juveniles.

He is due back in court on May 5.