KOMU: 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante is charged with first degree murder in the death of Elizabeth Olten.

She is also charged with first degree armed criminal action in the death of Olten in October. Her first appearance in court on the charges took place on Wednesday, but the proceedings were delayed until Dec. 7 because she did not have a lawyer. The judge assigned a public defender to her case.

The initial public hearing in juvenile court began at 8 a.m. this morning and finished around 10 a.m as Cole County Judge Jon Beetem announced Bustamante would be tried as an adult.

About 30 members of the community were in the court room for the emotional hearing. Prosecutor Samantha Green fought back tears, as did Olten's family, as she pleaded for the judge to try Bustamante as an adult due both to the severity and viciousness of the crime.

Sgt. David Rice of the Missouri Highway Patrol was the chief investigator on the case, and testified that he interviewed Bustamante on October 23, two days after Olten was reported missing. Bustamante, a guardian, and a juvenile officer were all present. She also led authorities to the body.

He also testified that during the Oct. 23 interview, Bustamante said she dug two holes in the woods on October 16, and planned the murder of Olten.

Sgt. Rice said that when he asked Bustamante why she allegedly killed Olten, she replied that she "wanted to know what it felt like."

Principal Jeff Dodson of Jefferson City High School was the first to testify Wednesday morning. He talked about Bustamante's performance in school as good. She was in the top third of her class. He said he had casual interactions with Bustamante and found her to be an average student.

Dodson said Bustamante attended school on the day Olten was murdered, and the only unexcused absence she had from school was the day after Olten's death.

Jefferson City Public Schools issued a statement Wednesday saying it had provided law enforcement and courts with documents and information that had been requested. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prohibits school officials from publicly discussing students records.

Green, the prosecutor, rested much of her case to try Bustamante as an adult on the lack of proper services in the juvenile system to treat Bustamante, which Judge Beetem upheld in his decision.

Judge Beetem said he was "disappointed with the Division of Youth Services" because it lacks the "adequate facilities, programs, or services that [Bustamante] needs to treat her past her 21st birthday."

Bill Haverly testified on the behalf of the Missouri Division of Youth Services, which provides services for juveniles in trouble with the law. He said that there are no juvenile secure care for females in the state, only for males.

He testified that if she were to go into juvenile care, she would likely be in a residential care program for eight months, followed by six months in an after-care program. He said the latest she would be released from juvenile care is her 21st birthday, which would put her back in the community in just more than five years.

Green said that with Bustamante's past issues, five years was not enough time for treatment or punishment.

Juvenile officer David Cook testified that Bustamante has received mental health services since September 2007 after she attempted suicide. She had a ten-day stay in the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center after the attempt, and has received mental health services from Pathways Community Behavioral Healthcare in Jefferson City since.

Cook said Bustamante takes Prozac for depression and also received services for mood swings and self-harm. Cook said Bustamante has a history of cutting herself, but said that there were no indications she was homicidal.

Bustamante had been in care of her grandmother, Karen Brooke, since 2001, and Cook said her life at home was normal and structured. She did chores and earned an allowance, and had no abnormal confrontations with her siblings.

Brett Valentine, Bustamante's juvenile defender, argued that Bustamanate wouldn't survive in the adult Department of Corrections. There are currently no girls in the Department of Corrections aged 13-15.

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