Forever 10: Remembering Iliana “Lily” Peters 🕯️💔

Ten-year-old Iliana “Lily” Peters should have been thinking about school, friends, family and all the ordinary adventures that come with growing up.

Instead, her life ended on April 24, 2022, in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

That evening, Lily left her aunt’s home and began riding her bicycle toward her own home.

Her 14-year-old cousin, Carson Peters-Berger, accompanied her.

According to the criminal complaint, the two were traveling along the Duncan Creek Trail when Carson convinced Lily to leave the path and follow him into a wooded area.

Prosecutors later alleged that the attack had been planned in advance.

Once they were away from the trail, authorities said Carson ᴀssaulted Lily and ultimately caused her death.

The details of what happened were deeply disturbing. An autopsy determined that Lily died from strangulation and blunt-force trauma. Prosecutors also made allegations of a Sєxual ᴀssault, although those specific charges were later dismissed as part of Carson’s plea agreement. The allegations were nevertheless read into the record during sentencing, allowing the judge to consider them.

But perhaps one of the most heartbreaking parts of the case came after Lily was already gone.

According to investigators, Carson returned home after leaving her in the wooded area. When he learned that people were searching for Lily, authorities said he went back to the location and attempted to further conceal her.

Meanwhile, Lily’s family was desperately trying to find her.

Her father searched through the night.

Around 11 p.m., he discovered Lily’s bicycle near the Duncan Creek Trail.

But Lily wasn’t there.

The search continued into the early hours of the morning.

At approximately 8:54 a.m. the following day, investigators discovered Lily in a wooded area near the trail.

She was only 10 years old.

The little girl who had left home on her bicycle the previous evening would never return.

Carson was arrested the next day.

The case remained in the courts for years, and on August 26, 2026, Carson Peters-Berger, then 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide.

In court, he admitted that he had killed Lily and that the killing had been planned.

He was sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility for extended supervision after 25 years.

The legal proceedings brought an end to one chapter of the case, but they could never change what Lily’s family had already lost.

Today, Lily should be 14 years old.

She should be starting another school year.

She should be discovering new interests, making friends, laughing with her family and slowly becoming the teenager she was meant to be.

Instead, she remains forever 10.

Her bicycle, once something ᴀssociated with childhood freedom and a ride home, became part of the investigation into her final hours.

And perhaps the most painful element for those who loved her is knowing that the person accompanying Lily was someone she had every reason to believe was safe.

He was her cousin.

Someone within her own family.

A person she should never have needed to fear.

Lily’s story is not only about the circumstances of her final day.

It is about a little girl whose life mattered.

A daughter.

A granddaughter.

A cousin.

A child who should have had the opportunity to grow older.

Four years after her pᴀssing, the courtroom finally heard Carson acknowledge responsibility for what he had done. But no sentence can give Lily’s family back the years they were supposed to share with her.

There will be birthdays she will never celebrate.

School years she will never experience.

Memories she will never get the chance to make.

She should be 14.

Instead, she will always be remembered at the age of 10. 🕯️

Forever 10. Forever Lily.

May Iliana “Lily” Peters be remembered not only for the tragedy surrounding her final day, but for the little girl she was and the life she deserved to live.

🕯️ Forever 10 — Iliana “Lily” Peters. 💔