Sentence likely Wednesday for teenage Mo. killer

Sentence likely Wednesday for teenage Mo. killer

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri teenager who confessed to murdering a young neighbor girl is described as a “thrill killer” by prosecutors and a mentally disturbed child by her defense attorneys.

Those characterizations of 18-year-old Alyssa Bustamante were made today as a judge considers whether to sentence her to life in prison for the October 2009 slaying of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten.

As prosecutor Mark Richardson was making his closing argument, Bustamante’s grandmother stormed out of the courtroom crying. That prompted Bustamante to cry for the first time during the hearing.

Then as the judge was preparing to exit, Elizabeth’s grandmother cried out from her wheelchair that Bustamante should not get out of jail until Elizabeth gets out of the grave.

The judge said she would hand down the sentence Wednesday.