MINNEAPOLIS — A preliminary autopsy found that Iliana "Lily" Peters died of strangulation and blunt force trauma, the Chippewa County Coroner said Thursday.
The 10-year-old girl's death was a homicide, said coroner Ronald Patten.
Peters' body was found Monday morning a few blocks from the Chippewa Falls, Wis., house where she was last seen. She was reported missing the night before by her father.
Authorities arrested a 14-year-old boy and charged him Wednesday with first-degree murder and sexual assault. He is being held at a juvenile detention facility on $1 million cash bail.
