53: 14-Year-Old Kills 10-Year-Old Cousin In The Most Gruesome Way | The Disturbing Case of Lily Peters

Ten-year-old Lilliana Lillie Peters was killed and sexually assaulted. [MUSIC] Plan, planned, premeditated, knew what he was doing. [MUSIC] For me, the deaths of children are the worst kinds of cases. [MUSIC] And even though it hurts to have those happy memories, at least I had them. [MUSIC] But to hear this happen to a ten-year-old, it gets just, it's unthinkable. [MUSIC] >> Today, we are going to be taking a second look at a case that I covered multiple times back in 2022. However, I do want to warn you, it is a very difficult case. I could barely stomach it back then. I'm sure that I will have trouble with it today as well, because it is a case surrounding a ten-year-old little girl named Lillie Peters. Now, when I first looked at this case years ago, there really wasn't a whole lot of information out there. However, new information slowly was coming out month by month, and now, fast forward to today, it's been years. And there have been some really significant updates. Not only significant updates, but very disturbing revelations and things that make you take a closer look at who you live with, who your family is, and just the true evil that people are capable of. So, that being said, we are going to revisit some of my old coverage on this case. Unahawk goes with reopens. We pull all of the coverage together with updates that I'm going to be recording today as well, just so that you have the full comprehensive overview of the case. You may notice some minor differences in audio, video, as present to Annie comes on versus past tense Annie. But the goal, again, is just to give you as much information as possible. So, that being said, my name is Annie Elise. And today, we are reopening the case of Lily Peters. Let's jump right in. Lily Peters is a ten year old girl and fourth grade student at Parkview Elementary School in Chippewa, Wisconsin. And Chippewa has a population of just 14,000 people. It is a very small town and a very tight-knit community. On Sunday, April 24, Lily rode her bike over to her aunt's house. Her aunt who lived approximately four blocks away from Lily. And later that evening, Lily was reportedly seen leaving her aunt's house on her bike, but never returned home that evening. So, family checked the area and contacted friends and family members, but couldn't find Lily anywhere. So around 9 p.m. that evening, Lily's father notified the police that she was missing. Now, as I mentioned, her house was only four blocks away from her aunt's house. So, what could have happened to Lily? In less than the five minutes, it would take to ride her bike from her aunt's house back home. Police began searching for this little ten year old girl on Sunday night. Eventually, they found her bicycle near a wooded area by a walking trail near her aunt's house. But Lily was nowhere to be found. So when their initial searches failed to actually turn up Lily, additional resources were brought in. They had additional police units, they had canine teams, drones, all these different people and avenues of searching were asked to come in and assist. Search teams also went door-to-door throughout the night in an effort to determine where Lily was. But unfortunately, just 12 hours later, on Monday, April 25, the body of Lily Peters was located in the woods at 9.15 a.m. She was located near her aunt's house close to a walking trail at the end of Grove Street and Lining Cougal's Brewery Parking Lot. And it was that same location where her bike had been found just the night before. And this is just a two-minute ride from her aunt's house, guys. Now, when you look at Google Maps, the walking trail that she was found on that her bike was found on is hard to see through satellite images. However, here you can see the entrance to the walking trail. It appears to have lots of terrain, woods on both sides, lots of tall greenery, making it extremely easy for someone to hide and potentially attack someone. And if you look at this image here, it's Prairie Street, which actually runs parallel to the trail. So essentially, Lily was writing on this desolate path alone with the woods on either sides of her. And although it may seem risky and potentially dangerous in hindsight, remember, this trail is only a two-minute bike ride. And after those two minutes, you're back on public streets. So who was this monster that was lurking in the shadows that night who chose to blitz attack this sweet innocent little girl, Lily? Attacking her in less than two minutes, it took for her to enter and exit that trail. Police said that they suspect that Lily is a victim of homicide. Good afternoon. Thank you for coming. My name is Matthew Kelman. I'm the chief of police for the Chippewa Falls Police Department. This is an update on the missing person case that was first reported last night. At about nine o'clock last night, the Chippewa Falls Police Department received information that, "Ilyana," "Lily," "M-Peters," "H-10," was missing from the city Chippewa Falls. Lily's father reported that she had not returned home from a visit from her aunt's house. At 400, in the 400 block of North Grove Street. Officers later located a bicycle in the woods near the walking trail between the end of North Grove Street and the Lionel's Brewery Parking Lot. Numerous agencies and resources were called to assist with the search for Lily. At about 9/15 this morning, a body was located in the wooded area near the walking trail. The Chippewa County Court's office has now confirmed that this is the body of Lily Peters. At this point, we are considering this a homicide investigation. We do not have anyone in custody at this time and we are continuing to follow up on multiple leads. The Chippewa Falls Police Department has numerous assisting agencies and we will be working diligently and tirelessly on this case. We encourage anyone with information to please contact the Chippewa Falls Police Department and to maintain a state of vigilance as there may be a danger to the public. To maintain the integrity of this very active and ongoing investigation, I am unable to provide any further details at this time. I do anticipate an additional press conference around 5 o'clock tonight. We would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Lily Peters during this tragic time. Thank you. This is not the ending you had hoped and prayed for. What has this been like for you in the department after making that discovery? As you can imagine, first responders are tremendously impacted by anything that that impacts one of our children. So it is very difficult for them and the investigators. So I wish thank you for your patience and we will provide more information as soon as we're able to. Thank you. In a letter actually sent home to parents on Monday afternoon, the school district gave recommendations to parents and encouraged them to pick up and drop off students who usually walk to and from school. District officials also said that their buildings are on high alert. Adding that law enforcement has not indicated a need to go into lockdown, but that they have requested an increase in law enforcement presence at school facilities and in the neighborhoods and that they're expecting that to happen. A good evening everyone. I am Chief Matt Kellm with the Chippell Falls Police Department and I'm providing an update on the homicide investigation. I first want to express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Lily Peters. I will be able to answer a few questions at the end of this briefing, but please bear in mind that we are very early in this investigation and I am limited in one information I can provide. So it was not to compromise the investigation. At this point, we do not have anyone in custody and I want to reiterate that people remain vigilant as there could be a danger to the public. We have established a tip line and we encourage anyone with information to call the tip line at 1-800-263-5906 and again that number is 1-800-263-5906. Our investigators are following up with leads and tips actively. The people of our community are honest, hard working and kindhearted. It is almost impossible to believe that something this horrific could happen in our city and an event like this threatens our sense of security. However, I believe we will come together as a community to overcome this year. A number of resources are being utilized in the search for answers in this tragic case. We currently have representatives from the Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigations, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, as well as many local law enforcement agencies assisting in this investigation who are working tirelessly to uncover the truth. We also have victim advocates who are working with the family. I would ask in closing that if anyone has any information about this case, that they please reach out to that tip line and again that's at 1-800-263-5906. six. There's a few questions I will try to answer some of them. She'd tell them, according to Fox 9, you said you want people to remain vigilant at the school district, even came out and said parents, if you can't pick up your kids don't, don't the Walker bike. It sounds to me like you think this person could still be around that people may be in danger. Can you just expand on that? Well, the simple fact is that we have not made an arrest in this case. So the suspect is still at large. So in that case, we just want to be extra vigilant and make sure that if there are any tips, anyone has any information to go ahead and follow and call that tip line. We have a lot of investigators that are working on those all the time. Did you hear about it's time going possibly? We saw the release that nine o'clock is when a family member called, but would you please just describe when she was last seeing, when she left her aunt's home, folks know what he should be moving for. You know, is a certain time from yesterday? Sure. Sure. I appreciate asking that question. And those are things that everyone wants to know about. But timelines and things like that are really things that are speaking about this act of investigation. And I can't really go into those right now. How quickly were you able to determine that this was a homicide investigation? Once we located the deceased at that point, the transition from the missing person into what we believe to be homicide. That was at the point that we made the decision to transition that. So I can't speak as to what the evidence is or specifics as to that decision-making, but why we went to that decision. But that was at that time. Is that a route that she would have taken home and from her house to her home? And again, those are things that our investigators are still looking into, conducting interviews and things of that nature. So I don't have any more information on that unfortunately right now. We're not saying cause of death. We're not saying how or where there are obvious signs of what caused the death. At this point, no, we're not we're not saying that we're only a day into the investigation. This is a major incident. And we want to make sure we do it correctly properly. And at this point, we don't have the information to give all. Is there any indication as to whether the suspect knew the late, there was a prior knowledge of who she was? Right. At this point, we really can't say because again, we're developing that information right now. Our investigators are falling up on leads. And I don't really have anything to give out on that, particularly case. What can you say to parents and people of falls tonight? What I would say to parents to chip of falls is that chip of falls is a safe community. This is a very rare occurrence. However, we we have to be cognizant to the fact that it will require some additional vigilance here today. So I guess that's what I would say at this point, when she could tell the community that there could be a danger out there and be vigilant, right? What do they need to be vigilant? What should they be looking for? What are the things that are concerned about that? That's a good question. Anything that's suspicious, things that are suspicious, based on some of the information we've already given out, if they think something might be relevant to this case, they should really call that to a convert. So I'll take one more question. Our investigators are following up on all leads and lining Google's has been very helpful in providing us a location to stage and then we're looking into those areas as well. Okay, thank you very much. Now, as I said, this case moved incredibly quickly, almost literally overnight. When I posted my first episode on this case, it was like major breaking news came out the very following day too, just so much outpouring of news and questions and some tips even because everyone in the community wanted answers. They wanted to know not only what happened to this little girl, but why did it happen? And who was responsible? Because the truth was at this point, whoever did this was still out there and that realization it terrified people. They needed to know who was responsible and they knew they needed that person caught fast. After receiving well over 200 tips on Tuesday, April 26th, authorities issued a search warrant for the home of Lily's aunt. It's unclear if this search turned up any evidence, but it does remain taped off and again, it is believed to be the home of Lily's aunt. And the suspect of this horrific crime, this person who killed this ten-year-old innocent little girl was a 14-year-old boy and he was taken into custody Tuesday and at the time he was only identified with the initials of CPD because he was a minor. However, this person made several comments to authorities and to his sister, allegedly, how he planned to essay and kill fourth-grade student Lily Peters and how he had planned this in his words from The Get Go. And what is more awful than a 14-year-old being capable of doing this is that that 14-year-old is her cousin. He detailed his premeditated plans for Lily that he held as they left the home together, plans that he followed through on. So Lily's cousin, this older eighth-grade boy, was clearly obviously familiar with Lily, they were family, they were blood cousins, and he may have even lived at the home of her aunt. And it was during this period between her leaving her aunt's house and trying, attempting to arrive home, this overgrown wooded area path that Lily was lured down by her cousin, and she was taken to the Inventment and then she was struck. And this has all been admitted to by her cousin, Carson. Allegedly, he punched Lily in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, strangled her, hit her with a stick, and then strangled her to the point of death. And then after Lily was deceased, he essayed her. Now, let's just unpack that for a moment because not only is that crime just brutal and personal and hands-on, anytime somebody strangles somebody, it is a very hands-on and personal method of killing them. Because you're looking them in the eyes, essentially, you're watching the life drain out of them. That is horrifying itself, period. Layering on the fact that it was a 14-year-old boy who did this to a 10-year-old girl, another layer of just disgust. On top of that, you stack it with the fact that they were blood cousins, and he did this to his own young cousin. Now, your mind is starting to go like, "How is this even possible?" And then, bam, the cherry on top of it is that after he already kills her and she's deceased, he essays her. The level of true disgust packed into this case haunts me. Because not only do you have murder, but you have I-N-C-E-S-T. You also have Necra, you know where I'm going. I mean, it is just packed with so much. And we're going to get into possibly the why here in just a second. So in court on Wednesday, on April 27, D.A. Wade Newell argued that the defendant was actually a flight risk due to the severity of the charges, and also that he was a danger to society. However, an attorney for the suspect countered that the defendant wasn't a flight risk, as he's a minor himself, and claimed he has no reasonable way to raise money and flee that he also lives with his mother and can't drive. However, the judge agreed that he was a flight risk, and due to the severity of these crimes, he agreed to have the bond set at $1 million, which was the amount that the state had requested. And the bond was also coupled with the conditions that the suspects have absolutely no contact with juveniles, and no access to dangerous weapons. So this young 14-year-old boy is facing three charges in the death of Lily Peters, including first degree intentional homicide, first degree essay, and first degree essay on a minor under 13. And as of Thursday, the 28th of April, another revelation about this case surfaced. This 14-year-old boy has officially been named as Carson Petersberger, and again, the cousin of Lily Peters. And unfortunately, as it often is revealed, many times crimes that are committed by children are because they too may have been victims themselves. And Carson's father is a convicted ped. Adam Berger is 37 years old, and he has served three years in prison for possession of explicit content involving young, underaged girls. And an eerie letter surfaced from his incarceration back in 2020, begging the judge to allow him unsupervised visits with his son, calling his boy the best of him in this letter. Other members of the family cited how Carson has not been happy since his father was arrested back in 2018, and that he was unhappy with his mother about this, and never smiling when he was in her company. His paternal grandmother called his mother, the sister of Lily's father, a bad mother, who limited the boy's interactions with his father's family. So much so that his grandmother was granted grandparents rights while his father was incarcerated. So the judge denied the motion to allow Adam to see his son unsupervised, and it's unclear if he has seen his son since his release, because all of the photos that I was able to obtain of the two together appear to be from five years or earlier. He's currently living in a halfway house on supervised probation after his release from prison back in 2021. So my question here is could Carson have blamed his mother for his father's incarceration because we know he was apparently angry in her presence, would never smile, and did that result in Carson carrying a hatred for female. in general. Obviously photos don't always attest to somebody's true character, but in these older photos I was able to find of Carson, he looks like a normal happy young boy. Nothing like the current photo we have of him and nothing like the person who would commit such a vicious act on anybody let alone their cousin. And again, pictures don't always tell the whole story, but to me when I look at the two of these side by side, they don't even look like the same person. There's a new kind of evil behind the eyes. The news of Lily's final moments and her death was heartbreaking enough. And that was even before the details of what happened to her became public. Now I know that I warned you in the beginning of this episode, but I'm going to say it again. The details that emerged from Lily's autopsy were incredibly disturbing and quite honestly, what nightmares are made out of. New details in the death of a ten-year-old Chippewa Falls girl, according to a criminal complaint released today, the 14-year-old boy charged in Lily Peter's death told a detective that he intended to kill her. The complaint says he did that after luring her off of a trail by suggesting they explore surrounding woods. He then left her body in the woods, but did return later to try and cover up her body with leaves. The boy remains in custody on a million dollars bar. The new criminal complaint that has been unsealed has given us some truly awful details. The first thing that we learned was that Lily was actually tricked by her 14-year-old cousin, Carson. And Carson specifically had this entire thing planned out in his very own disgusting way. He knew what he was going to do to Lily before they even left the house. So Carson helped Lily walk with her bike as she left her aunt's house to return home, which was literally under a five-minute commute. As they left her aunt's house, Lily walked with her bike alongside of her and Carson took his hoverboard. Carson asked Lily to then explore off the trail with him. Once they were off the trail, Carson hit Lily with a large stick in the head three times. Once Lily was then on the ground, laying on her back, he then straddled her and strangled her. After Carson believed that Lily was deceased, he removed her pants and he went on to essay her. He also told investigators that at some point he bit her. And we're going to get back to that detail in a little bit here as we go through more of these updates because I want to just make mention of that. Carson then stated that he got scared. So he ran home, he showered, and put all of his dirty clothes in the laundry. When he heard that people were out looking for 10-year-old Lily, he went back to where her body was, moved it, and covered it with leaves. When Lily was found just 12 hours after her father had called the police to report her as missing, she was found without her pants on. So let's pause really quickly at this first update because there are just many thoughts behind this. First off, did nobody in the family notice that Carson was gone or was acting strangely at home? Because when Lily's dad was questioning where everybody was, what happened to Lily? Did Carson's mom or mom's boyfriend not question where the last time Carson saw Lily was, especially if they knew that he left the house with her that night? Wouldn't they have asked, okay, well, where did you leave her off at the trailer? Did you walk her all the way home? Why wasn't there any piece of information they're connecting? So the way that Carson just casually went home and showered and then laundered his clothes is just beyond creepy, shows that maybe yeah, he was scared, but clearly there wasn't any remorse. He was going on as business as usual, especially because then when he heard that people were looking for Lily, he went back to the scene of the crime, dragged her lifeless body a few more feet and covered her with leaves. And at that point, he didn't attempt to put her pants back on, meaning that he didn't care if she was found in that way, which again leads me to believe that there was just no remorse here, not to mention, of course, that it was planned out before this even happened. It wasn't something that he just did in the heat of the moment. He had planned this before they even left the home that evening. But what I also wonder about that is when he went back to her body the next morning to move her, was it nobody keeping tabs on this kid? Because if somebody's niece was missing or a family member, first of all, you wouldn't allow them out of the house because at that point too, all of the school district was like not on lockdown, but they were on high alert. The police were advising parents not to allow their children to walk to school or walk home from school because they said that there was a predator on the loose. So they were allowing their son to go out without supervision. But also, if you knew that he was the last one to see her alive, why wouldn't you be keeping tabs on him to see where he's going? There's just a lot of disconnect here. So it seems like these parents were possibly just absent entirely or not paying attention. And according to people in the community, Carson was also at Lily's vigil the very next day. That night that she was found he was there. And we've heard of suspects and perpetrators often inserting themselves into the investigation or showing up at the vigil to gauge what the response is and what people are saying. But people in the community mentioned seeing him comforting his family and hugging them. And the fact that he was there doing that knowing he's the one that not only took Lily's life, but the one who brutally assayed her body is just beyond evil and personally, in my opinion, demonic. Now, the second update in this case is the attorney that's on this case. So the attorney on this case is Michael Cohen. And Michael Cohen was actually Carson's father Adam's attorney when Adam Carson's father was serving time for his case related to child PORN. Again, I can't say it here on YouTube. And Mike is highly known and well respected in the Chippewa area. From what we've been able to gather, Michael is also not a cheap attorney. He requires a hefty retainer. So the question is, is this pro bono or did a family member help foot the bill for this expensive attorney? Considering this lawyer also represented Adam, would it likely be that Carson's paternal family is paying for this attorney? Or did Michael agree to do this pro bono? But records show that he hasn't done any pro bono work for at least the past five years. However, in a strange twist here, a GoFundMe was set up for a lily's family and 41,000 dollars was raised. Now, the GoFundMe was suddenly shut down abruptly without thinking anybody without any sort of explanation. Just boom, shut down at 41,000 dollars. And Michael Cohen, the attorney, was hired shortly after that. So is there a chance that the GoFundMe money could have been used for Carson's defense fees? The autopsy showed that lily had bite marks on her left buttock. She also had essay trauma to her backside and blunt force trauma to the left side of her head. Now, we know that Carson admittedly hit her with a stick three times in the head to subdue her and get her to the ground. He also admitted to investigators to biting her. But she had tearing on her backside. So there is essay that took place, you know, in lily's rear. It's unknown if it also took place in the front area, but it is confirmed that she had tearing. Rehashing all of these details from years ago, it honestly makes my stomach turn. You don't have to know lily personally to hear what happened to her and to feel absolutely horrified by it. And you would think that with that everyone around Carson would also feel the same way. I mean, if strangers are feeling that way, obviously his family must be feeling that way, right? But shockingly, after his arrest, members of his own family came to his defense, asking the judge for leniency, even speaking out on his behalf. Carson's grandmother sent a letter to judge Ben Lane pleading with him to send Carson to juvenile court. In her letter, she said that Carson is and always has been a kind, caring, giving, and loving person. Also saying, I don't have the words to explain the pain that our family is going through. And I'm sure that's true, considering all of the different facets of this family that have been accumulating through generations to create this horrible murder. And I can only guess that this grandmother is also the grandmother of lily Peters, because her saying that her family has already lost too much and went through so much pain leads me to speculate as much, which would make her the mother of Carson's mother and lily's father. She goes on to write about Carson's accomplishments in school, that his peers view him as a great role model and how he has never been in trouble, as if that somehow lessens the things that he's done, and the fact that he took the life of his 10-year-old cousin and brutally assayed her after she was dead, saying things like he has excellent character and positive behavior, seems in very poor taste and almost like enabling behavior, to me at least. Going on to excuse his behavior as just a young boy who got mixed up and lost control, just seems like a poor excuse for the actions that he committed, especially premeditated actions, that he himself admitted to police that he had planned from the get-go, his exact quote. I can't imagine trying to justify this kind of behavior from my child or my future grandchildren or anybody, especially considering that they had just stolen the life [BLANK_AUDIO] of my other grandchild, how do you justify this? The highlighting of his goodness, ironically reminds me of pieces of the letter that his father had penned to his own judge for his case, in which he had said that Carson was the best of me. She underwhelmingly acknowledged that he does need to be punished, but doesn't think that prison is a suitable punishment. She begged the judge to send him to juvenile court to quote unquote, "get the help he needs." Even mentioning that this is the opportunity to help a young boy figure out what happened and why, as though he is the victim here and needs help. No, no, no, no, no. Her plea to the judge is clearly out of love and pain. I get that because I can't imagine all of the pain that their entire family must be feeling. She was even mentioning a threat to her daughter's life and that of her family in this letter too. So I get their stress and their heart broken. And Lily's mother also condemned these online trolls for harassing her family. So it's hard to understand all of these inner workings within a family, let alone one with so much trauma that has happened over generation because we have no idea what truly did happen to these kids, Carson included behind closed doors or what continues to happen behind them. But this letter just brushed me all sorts of wrong. The attorney for Carson also submitted a letter to the judge to ask that law enforcement in the DA be barred from making comments about the case to news outlets as it proceeds, saying that this case should be tried in the courtroom and not in the media. But Carson appeared back in court and I have to say I was a little surprised at the direction it took. Carson appeared by video with his attorney Michael Cohen for a brief hearing during which Carson's attorney, the DA and the judge, discussed what arrangements might need to be made for witnesses that are testifying at the preliminary hearing on September 1st. See, in Wisconsin, anyone charged with a felony has the right to a preliminary hearing at which a judge must decide if there is probable cause to believe a felony has been committed by the defendant. Carson's lawyer also brought up concerns about a video that was posted to YouTube, not this video, not any on this channel, but probably well after this. And the video airs what sounds like audio from a police officer, something that had apparently not yet been made public. So Carson's lawyer told the judge that the video includes information that he believes also is false. And he said it also includes information that he has not seen himself and is concerned that the video could create inappropriate bias or taint a jury pool. And he gets pretty heated as he delivers this argument and information to the judge. Take a listen. - Attorney Cohen, were there any other items that you wanted to address today as discussed? We did receive some additional correspondence from you. Your Honor, there's one issue. As the court knows, I wrote the correspondence and I did discuss the idea of some type of, certainly within the court's authority, some type of what I would call colloquially a gag order to try to limit certain pieces of information being disseminated to the public. Since the time that I wrote that correspondence, Your Honor, I have been made aware as from what I can tell, at least a million people have been made aware that someone somehow provided information about this case in terms of specific pieces of evidence, video footage, phone calls, 911 calls, documents and other things, somehow have been leaked to someone who has now put a 30 minute video on YouTube where they have made my client into a cartoon figure, they have provided false information, or at least from what I can tell false information, they have referenced information that, from what I know, I don't have, and from what I know from Mr. Newell's office, apparently, they say they don't have. I have contacted YouTube. I have on behalf of my client, attempted to begin a privacy confidential strike against that to have it removed. I have not been, I have not heard back from YouTube Corporation yet on this, but from what I can tell, at least as of two days ago, three days ago now, this video has been observed just by the time that it was released on June 3rd by over 800,000 to a million people. And frankly, Judge, when you, it's still available, I will send the court and Mr. Newell a link and they wanna see it, it's still available. But this is the type of concern that I have about this case, the amount of information that is direct, law enforcement information, tells me that somehow information has been leaked out, that is of a significant evidentiary nature, and I don't have it. But now almost a million people have seen it and it has made my client into a cartoon figure and it says things that are completely inappropriate. So to the extent that I now have evidence that something has occurred, I'm asking the court to within its authorities instruct anyone that it can and I understand your limitations, that there will be significant consequences for leaking of evidence about this case to the general public in such a fashion that appears to me for the purpose of doing everything possible to potentially taint a potential jury pool or cause some type of inappropriate bias towards my client. I'm not gonna put up with it, Judge. - Right, I'm trying to know, is that accurate that the state has no notice or information as far as where this information is coming from? - I until he mentioned it right now, I had no idea. And I guess I would ask for that link so that the state can review that to determine if it is in fact law enforcement video or some other video or what it is. I can't comment upon it now because I have no idea what is in that YouTube video. As a real obviously the leaking of confidential information is already prohibited so I don't know that the court has to take any additional action now. The court wants to make a statement that that sort of information, that that troubling if any sort of confidential information is leaked, I don't have a problem with that. And I talked to Attorney Cohen a little bit about this while back when he filed the letter but because there's no notice to anyone but the parties, I think the court could only put a gag order on the parties that are part of this action. I don't think, and there's no law enforcement has no notice of any hearing today regarding what they're allowed to say or not. Let's say about that obviously as an individual, I have certain constitutional rights as well under the first amendment. I think I've done fine in not disclosing anything that is factually involved in this case other than is a public record and out to the public as of now. I don't have a problem with there being a gag order in this matter to not talk about the facts of the case at all while the matter is pending either by the defense or the state for that matter. I mean, as a court knows, we also received fairable correspondence to the defendant which is now part of the media having that which is the letter that was provided the court. I've seen in that in the media as well. So if it is in fact unfavorable video for the defendant, there is also favorable information that is being provided and made available to the media as well. I don't know how we stop people from filing things in and I don't know that there's a mechanism by which to seal it as it comes in necessarily because as a court knows the rules from the Wisconsin Supreme Court era on the side of transparency that everything that is filed is seen by the general public that it's open and available. Obviously we don't control the media and neither the parties control the media in that regard. I like Attorney Cohen want the defendant's rights to be protected. The job of the Attorney is not just to convict people just to make sure justice is done in the matter and I want the defendant's rights to be protected as well. I think I don't know exactly what the defense is asking for. It's just that the parties not talk about the case factually, I don't have a problem with that. Attorney Cohen, are you aware of whether the posting party on this link is an entity that put this together or is this an individual posting party? Do you have any information about that? A few things, Judge First, from what we can tell, it was put out by a man. It's called the Law and Crime Network. I will forward to your assistance. your honor as well as to Mr. Newell, a copy of the link so that it can be viewed. I do not -- the next point, Judge, is that I agree with Mr. Newell. Anything that is filed in this case with the court is a public record that can be disseminated. I understand that. The concern that I have, Judge, is that when you see this video, you will realize relatively instantaneously that the information contained in it almost -- all of it has not been disseminated to the public. It is not a public record. It is not in the court file. It is not something that's been filed for your review to determine whether it will be filed under seal or not. It is information that is drone coverage, drone video footage, 9-1-1 calls, police communication, phone calls, between law enforcement officers. It is documents. It is photographs. It is a 30-minute video that is montage with this gentleman making all sorts of completely inappropriate commentary. Who the person is? I do not know. My concern is not that -- I am not asking that publicly, appropriately filed documents are somehow being shut down. That is not what we are talking about. What I am talking about is my concern that somehow, somewhere, somebody gave out some place significant information about this case. Actual evidence, which would potentially be introduced in a jury trial that is not public, and that is my concern. All right. I need to review this video because if that is the case, there are some concerns. I took an oath to uphold all the rights for our Constitution for the public and the First Amendment Rights for our media and the public in general for information in this case. The defendants' rights and all the rights associated with him. The victims' rights that are in place for our Wisconsin Constitution and statute. I need to make sure that everyone's rights are being met and upheld as part of this matter. I am concerned. I do not know if this is legitimate, as Attorney Cohen discussed. Cartoon image is made of the defendant. I am not sure if any of this may be audio-generated illegitimate or not. It's hard to tell sometimes with digital production, but I need to make sure that all rights are being upheld in this matter. Attorney Cohen, as far as in order on other participants in this case, including public officials, the court does have some authority to address these issues and to restrict release of certain information by certain individuals. The court does note though that when there is a public official or an elected official involved with release of information or records that under Chapter 19 of our statutes that a separate civil action may be required to restrain that individual from releasing certain records. If that is the case, this court may be limited in jurisdiction while acting in the criminal jurisdiction to issue an order against something that would be required in a civil jurisdiction matter. If that is the case, that would prohibit me from making any orders, but under other considerations I may be able to do that. Do you understand? And you already read my mind and made me by your questions. You have done that earlier. We are attempting through appropriate investigation that we can to try to figure out how this information was released. I am fully aware of Chapter 19 and the FOIA and the mechanisms that certain persons have to perhaps get some information. However, as you know, Judge, the information that can be released or soon to a Chapter 19 release or a Federal Freedom of Information Act is limited and strictly protected, especially in pending investigations or ongoing criminal cases. And so if, for example, something was released, I'll just say it perhaps mistakenly by what somebody would have thought would be otherwise proper request that does not mean that there are not actions or sanctions or remedies still nonetheless available. So we're investigating that, Judge. I don't have the answers for that today, but in full, I was making the comments about the video because I became aware of that this week. And I didn't have a chance to get any additional information to the court prior to this hearing, but I had raised the issue tangentially, at least in my correspondence of a couple of weeks ago. The purpose of bringing the video to the court's attention today was to say, I wrote to you, now I have documented evidence that there's a potential issue. We're working to gather more information and to the extent that you can at least today order some type of restrictions or perhaps admonish all those that would otherwise be listening to this about making sure that they follow the law moving forward. That may be all you can do today. I recognize that, but it is a serious situation and I have to protect my client's rights to the best of my abilities. Well, I think it's fair that I direct not only the state, but the defense, law enforcement and any other parties who may have obtained information regarding this matter that remains confidential, that has not been released as a public record as part of this matter or by any other public official according to chapter 19 that it should not be released to anyone because it affects the rights and due process rights of the defendant, it affects the ability of the state to prosecute its case. There are a variety of issues that have consequences by releasing information that is still confidential in this matter, and so I would direct anyone who does have any of that information to not release it, and it goes for both sides. It's not just for the state and police, it also goes for the defense. So that is something that I will enter here today. And again, I expect that that goes along with the officials and the authority that has the custodial rights to those records, but also that means the individuals that are under their control, and everyone who is under the control of those individuals should maintain that confidentiality as well. Now, the last time that I covered this case, there was a lot of back and forth on whether or not Carson was going to be tried as an adult. Many people felt that given the sheer violence of the crime, it made sense, right? Carson's defense team and even some of his family members, though, they argued otherwise, wanting him to be tried as a juvenile. However, in January of 2024, there was an announcement on this very long overdue decision. The teenage boy accused of killing 10-year-old Lily Peters will be tried as an adult. That ruling was handed down this morning by an appeals court. The now 16-year-old boy known only as CPB is accused of killing and sexually assaulting Peters in April of 2022. In January of this year, a Chippewa County judge ruled the case would stay an adult court. This one decision alone had caused many delays, but eventually it was finally decided. Carson's defense team, however, they weren't done. They then requested a change of venue, arguing that people in the community already knew too much about this case to give Carson a fair trial. And honestly, look, it's easy to see why they felt that way. This wasn't something that happened every single day. This wasn't something that people were familiar with and had heard before. I mean, Lily was a beautiful young and innocent child. And what happened to her? And of this case, it had shaken the entire community. Now, there wasn't another update until late August of 2025. And when it finally came, Judge Stephen Gibbs granted the defense's request. I believe the Constitution gives every defendant the right to a fair trial. I believe the Constitution is a document that needs to be followed by everybody. The case law state said if there's any doubt, it should be resolved in the favor of the defendant. It has requests for a change of venue. So I am going to grant the motion. The judge made it clear that he was going to have to discuss budgets with different county departments. And instead of physically moving the trial to a different location, ultimately decided on bringing in an outside jury to this county. Back in August of 2025, we were also told that the trial could last up to two to three weeks, but there still was no official date set. Eventually, though, that changed. It changed to November of 2026. However, just months before the scheduled trial was set to begin, some major breaking news came out. The Chippewa County District Attorney's Office says the trial for the 18-year-old man accused of killing Lily Peters has been canceled official scheduled a resolution in the homicide case for August 26, meaning there will not be a trial. And the case will be over. Over on Wednesday, August 26th, 2026, Carson pleaded guilty to first degree intentional homicide. As part of the plea deal, the judge ended up dismissing the two other charges, first degree sexual assault, causing bodily harm, and first degree child sexual assault involving a child under 13. Carson was ultimately sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of extended supervision after 25 years. But look, I'd be lying if I said that I think Lily's family will ever feel a true sense of resolution from all of this. They spent years waiting for a trial that they thought was finally coming, only to have it canceled at the last minute, which I can only imagine how painful that must have been for them. I mean, at least they know that Lily's killer is behind bars and, yes, will remain therefore a very long time, but no amount of justice can bring Lily back or undo what she endured and what she was fearful of in those final moments. And also 25 years, and then possible supervision, I don't know. I understand that he was young when this happened, but like I said before, I do think that sometimes people are just born bad and sexual offenders, that is something that is like embedded in their brain chemistry to where I don't think those urges ever go away, even with time. It wasn't just him hating his cousin and wanting to kill her and murder her, which not saying like only because obviously that's bad enough, but there was the added sexual element on top of all of this, which it kind of pisses me off that those charges were worked out through the plea deal, because those are some of the most heinous charges someone can have. And to inflict that on your own family member, that is diabolical. So again, to suggest that maybe after 25 years, he will be reformed, rehabilitated. He can have supervision. No, sometimes people are just wired that way. And especially in my opinion, I think a lot of this was done, and I think I mentioned this as a way to impress his father who was incarcerated. And it feels like it's something that is just embedded within him. I don't know. I don't see this as justice for Lily, and it really pisses me off. I'm glad there's some accountability and that he's locked up, but also what about the other parts of this? The sexual assault, the stick, everything that goes into it. You get to just cop to a guilty plea and work out a deal, and have be absolved of those. Will he even be on the registry if and when he gets out, probably not, right? Because all he pled guilty to was first degree intentional homicide. So where's the offender charges? And how does that protect future potential victims and people on the street who don't know that history? And because he was a minor at the time, will that have been expunged? Will that ever be on his record at all that those were the ones charges? I don't know. I don't know how it works. I'm going off on a tangent, but it pisses me the hell off, truly. So before I continue to get even more heated, I'm going to wrap up now. And I want to know your thoughts on this case. First of all, what do you think of the motivation here was? Was it some sick, young, pervy kid looking to explore and do some sick ass shit to his cousin? And then he was too scared that she was going to knock on him. So he had to kill her. Was this something else? Is he going to reoffend in the future potentially? Is it was this verdict and this deal justice in your eyes? Let me know all of your feelings and all of your thoughts, either in the comment section on YouTube or in the Q&A section on Spotify. I'm sorry, all my Apple listeners. For some reason, Apple doesn't have that option yet and doesn't provide the ability to comment. You can, however, leave your thoughts in the review section on Apple. So curious to know what you guys all think. Thank you for sticking with me today on it. I know that it is a very difficult case. It is one that has haunted me for over four years. So let's all just pray that Lilly's family has some sort of peace in all of this and that this monster is kept locked away for a long time so that there's no other future victims. All right, guys. Thank you so much. And until the next case, stay safe. Bye. [MUSIC]