Salt Lake City ? Prosecutors on Thursday charged a man with kidnapping and aggravated murder in the death of a 5-year-old girl, saying he confessed to smothering the girl, then sexually assaulting her – a crime that could bring the death penalty.

Destiny Norton had been missing for eight days when police found her body Monday night stuffed in a plastic storage box in a cellar at the man’s house just two doors away, prosecutor Bob Stott said at a news conference to announce the charges Thursday.

The neighbor, Craig Roger Gregerson, 20, will be appointed a defense attorney at a court appearance scheduled for today, he said.

Destiny’s parents, Rich and Rachael Norton, were in seclusion Thursday and making funeral plans for their daughter, but a close friend speaking on their behalf said Gregerson should be executed.