JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A 15-year-old girl Missouri girl indicted for first-degree murder Wednesday in the slaying of a 9-year-old girl will stand trial as an adult, a judge ruled.
Alyssa Bustamante allegedly strangled, stabbed and cut the throat of her young neighbor Elizabeth Olten.
Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled the case should be heard in adult court because the crime was vicious and serious, and there were not adequate services or facilities to handle the suspect in the juvenile court system, KRCG-TV in Columbia, Mo., reported.
Olten lived down the street from Bustamante. The child was allegedly visiting Bustamante's home when her family reported her missing. Police say written evidence led them to Bustamante, who took them to Olten's body in nearby woods Oct. 23.
There were two graves allegedly dug a week before Olten's death, Highway Patrol Criminal Investigator Sgt. David Rice said. It wasn't revealed who might have been the intended victim for the second grave, KRCG reported.
Bustamante had spent 10 days in a Missouri mental health center in 2007 after a suicide attempt, and had been treated for depression, Jefferson City's News Tribune reported.
