Alyssa Bustamante was fifteen years old when she lured a nine year old girl into the woods and killed her. According to Bustamante she wanted to see what it felt like to murder someone. This teen killer who had planned on killing two other children and had already predug two graves would be convicted and sentenced to life in prison
Alyssa Bustamante 2023 Information
| Assigned Location | Women’s Eastern REC/Diag/Corr Center | ||
| Address | 1101 E. Highway 54, Vandalia, MO 63382 | ||
| Assigned Officer | |||
| Sentence Summary | Life (Life + 30 CS) | ||
| Active Offenses | MURDER 2ND DEGREE; ARMED CRIMINAL ACTION | ||
| Completed Offenses | Completed sentence not found | ||
| Aliases | Alyssa Dailene Kemp; Alyssa Dailene Bustamante; Alyssa Daileen Bustamante; Alyssa D Bustamante |
Alyssa Bustamante Other News
Missouri teenager Alyssa Bustamante has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in the killing of a 9-year-old girl. The 18-year-old was sentenced Wednesday in Cole Country Circuit Court. She pleaded guilty in January to second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the October 2009 stabbing and strangling of her neighbor, Elizabeth Olten.
Bustamante’s defense attorneys said in court that an abundance of the drug Prozac could have been a catalyst to her behavior. A consulting psychiatrist testified Monday afternoon that Bustamante’s prescription for Prozac may have helped lead her to kill.
Alyssa Bustamante More News
A Missouri woman whose 9-year-old daughter was killed by a teenage neighbor in 2009 has agreed to settle a wrongful death lawsuit that requires the imprisoned killer to pay her more than $5 million.
Patricia Preiss signed a deal Monday to settle the lawsuit she filed against Bustamante, who was 15 when she killed Preiss’ daughter, Elizabeth. Prosecutors alleged Bustamante committed the crime to see how it felt to kill someone.
Bustamante, who is now 23, confessed to the killing. She was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
It’s unclear if Bustamante has the means to pay the settlement. Attorneys for her and Priess did not immediately return phone calls seeking details Tuesday from The Associated Press.
Bustamante signed the settlement agreement in March, but documents show Preiss didn’t agree to the deal until Monday, The Jefferson City News-Tribune reported. A trial was scheduled to begin on Aug. 7. Bustamante is serving her sentence at the Women’s Eastern Missouri Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Vandalia.
Bustamante pleaded guilty in 2012 to luring Elizabeth to the woods in the small town of St. Martins, just west of Jefferson City. She slit the girl’s throat and strangled her before burying her in a grave she had dug several days in advance, according to investigators.
Under the lawsuit settlement, Preiss agreed to dismiss any remaining counts. Bustamante also is required to notify Preiss if she receives any compensation arising from publicity about the case.
Jefferson City woman reaches $5M settlement with inmate in killing of 9-year-old daughter
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Alyssa Bustamante is currently incarcerated at the Woman’s Eastern Receiving and Diagnostic Center
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Alyssa Bustamante More News
On October 21, 2009, fifteen-year-old Alyssa Bustamante strangled and stabbed nine-year-old Elizabeth Olten to death and then buried her body in a shallow grave. Upon questioning by law enforcement officers, Bustamante admitted that she had killed the child, and she led the officers to the grave.1
In November 2009, the Cole County Juvenile Officer filed a petition asking the juvenile court to relinquish its jurisdiction over Alyssa Bustamante to allow the State to prosecute her as an adult in circuit court. The juvenile court held a “certification” hearing (at which Bustamante was represented by counsel) and ultimately granted the Juvenile Officer’s petition. The State then charged Bustamante as an adult with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Attorneys Donald Catlett and Charles Moreland from the Capital Division of the Public Defender’s Office entered an appearance on Bustamante’s behalf. The matter was set for trial on January 26, 2012.
On January 10, 2012, Alyssa Bustamante appeared before the circuit court, accompanied by her attorneys, to plead guilty to second-degree murder and armed criminal action, pursuant to an agreement with the State. Plea counsel informed the court that he and co-counsel had reviewed the substitute information with Bustamante and that she was “prepared today to take responsibility for these offenses.” Alyssa Bustamante confirmed that she wanted to withdraw her not-guilty plea and to plead guilty to the charges in the substitute information.
The court informed Alyssa Bustamante of the range of punishment for the offenses and explained that there would be a sentencing hearing at which evidence would be taken and the court would then decide what the sentence would be. Bustamante acknowledged that she understood that she was entering a “blind plea,” meaning that the judge was not bound by any agreed upon sentence, and that she could not withdraw her guilty plea after the plea hearing. The circuit court accepted Bustamante’s guilty plea after finding that she had entered the plea “knowingly, willingly, voluntarily, and intelligently,” with a full understanding of the charges and the consequences of the plea, and that a factual basis had been established for the plea.
At the sentencing hearing, numerous witnesses, including several expert witnesses, testified for both sides. The circuit court heard evidence about Bustamante’s history of mental health issues and about the circumstances surrounding the murder. On February 8, 2012, the court sentenced Bustamante to consecutive terms of life for the murder and thirty years for ACA.
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