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A Colorado teen who sexually assaulted and killed his 10-year-old stepsister will be sentenced to life in prison at a hearing next month.
Aidan Zellmer, 16, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the 2017 death of Kiaya Campbell on Friday in Adams County District Court.
In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped an additional count of first degree murder and a sexual assault charge against the teen.
Kiaya disappeared on the night of June 7, 2017, while walking to the store with Zellmer. Her body was found beaten to death in a ravine the following day just a mile away from the home in Thorton where Kiaya's father lived with his girlfriend and her two sons.
Zellmer, who was 15 at the time, initially told investigators that he and Kiaya were separated when he started running to escape a rainstorm. Neighbors disputed that there was rain in the area that night.