http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2012/01/alyssa_bustamante_pleads_guilty.php
Alyssa Bustamante, the mid-Missouri teenager in jail for two years on charges that she murdered her 9-year-old neighbor because she "wanted to know what it felt like" to kill someone, pleaded guilty yesterday.
The confession came as prosecutors reduced their first-degree murder charge to second-degree murder. Instead of serving a mandatory life term in prison, the now 17-year-old Bustamante could get out in as few as ten years.
As part of her plea, Bustamante told the court yesterday how she killed neighbor Elizabeth Olten back on October 21, 2009. Bustamante told the judge that she "strangled her" (with her hands) and then stabbed the girl in the chest with a knife and slit her throat.
Bustamante then buried the Elizabeth in a grave she dug near her rural Jefferson City neighborhood. Search crews spent two days combing the area in search of Elizabeth before Bustamante led them to the child's grave.
It's unclear exactly why prosecutors decided to drop the first-degree murder charges against Bustamante, though this summer the state was dealt a blow when a judge ruled that it could not use some testimony she made to police during trial because it was obtained through "deceptive tactics."
Bustamante reportedly practiced an "emo" lifestyle that focused on the occult. Following her arrest, photos (like the one above) and videos of the troubled Bustamante went viral online.
Jan. 11, 2012
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. -- The new state of the art Cole County Jail is now home to inmates, including 17-year-old Alyssa Bustamante.
Transport vans moved all of them from the old jail to the new one yesterday afternoon.
Alyssa Bustamante is charged with the first degree murder of 9-year old Elizabeth Olten in 2009.
She was 15 when officers arrested her and that had everything to do with why she wasn't kept in Cole County.
http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?list=366949&id=649278
Alyssa Bustamante: In jail since Oct. 23, 2009
It's been 13 months since Alyssa Bustamante was charged as an adult with murdering 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten. Since then, Bustamante has been at the Morgan County Jail, under the supervision of Jail Sergeant Cody Worthley. (Read more)
“Once they're certified as an adult they get treated like any other adult we house here,” Jail Sergeant Cody Worthley said. “The only precaution we do, and we do this with anyone that comes in for the 1st time, we monitor them for a few days and make sure they get adjusted."
Alyssa is being held in a cell pod. It's similar to a dorm room with bunk beds for more than 20 other women all living together with no privacy.
“They have phones in there,” Worthley said. “They have games, cards and checkers. They have a TV in there they can watch all day long."
Alyssa also has access to GED books, but a court battle is still going on whether she can take long distance learning courses to finish high school.
Alyssa usually stays in bed, with a blanket over her head said Worthley.
"I think 15, 16 is the youngest we've ever had,” said Worthley. “She's like any other inmate. They just sit there and do their stuff upstairs. And she does keep to herself. Until problems arise, then I'll get concerned about it. But as long as everyone is on their best behavior up there, then I have no concern for them."
Worthley said Alyssa has never caused a problem.
Psychologist Dr. Colin Duggan, who has worked with adolescents in the correctional system, said teens in adult jails is a delicate situation and it needs to be looked at case by case when dealing with a defendants' mental health.
“Hypothetically, a child thrown into an environment like that could suffer consequences: not learning to deal with stress appropriately, learning how to contain their impulses, acting out violently,” Duggan said.
JEFFERSON CITY, MO -- Cole County Circuit Court has confirmed that the trial for murder suspect Alyssa Bustamante has been delayed until early 2012.
The trial has already been pushed back twice: it was first scheduled for May, then June and most recently for Sept. 13th of this year.
Judge Joyce ruled that a pre-trial conference will be held in Cole County on January 9th, 2012 with jury selection beginning on Jan. 10th in Springflied. The Green County jury will then travel to Cole County for the trial.
Joyce said the trial is scheduled to being immediately after jury selection is completed.
Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce made the decision to delay the trial after meeting Tuesday morning with Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson and Bustamante's two public defenders in a closed-door meeting.
(More)
http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?list=366949&id=654800
