A 15-year-old boy with a mischievous past was charged in the murder of a 12-year-old neighbor who was found in an overgrown horse pasture near her Utah home Friday, police said.

The teen, whose name was not released because of his age, lured Kailey Vijil from her home around midnight Friday, police said. Kailey was found dead three hours later.

The murderer and victim did not appear to know each other, and police do not know how he persuaded her to leave her house in a Salt Lake City suburb.

"I believe a good-natured child was fooled," West Valley City Police Chief Lee Russo told reporters Friday.

Kailey was found with "evidence of trauma" but did not appear to be stabbed or shot, police said.

Earlier that night, the boy had knocked on another girl's door and asked her to follow him, police said.

"He asked me: 'I've been waiting for you to see my fort setting it up and I want you to go see my fort in the abandoned house,'" Mia Montano told Fox 13. "I said 'No, I've got to go eat my lunch.'"

The boy "was known in the community" for getting into trouble, Russo and neighbors said.

His mother told KUTV her son was not involved in Kailey's murder and had come home after a recent stint in a drug treatment facility.

"Our hearts and prayers are with the Vijil family and may God comfort all families hurt in this terrible tragedy," the suspect's family said in a statement.

The boy was charged with one count of criminal homicide and booked into a juvenile detention facility. A judge will determine whether he will face the charge as a juvenile or as an adult.

Kailey's family had recently moved to the middle-class neighborhood, and a relative knew the girl was leaving the home at the time.

"This isn't about parenting," Russo said. "What we are investigating is the death of a 12-year-old girl."