Wednesday, February 8, 2012

An 18-year-old Missouri woman who was sentenced to life in prison for killing a young neighbor more than two years ago apologized to her victim's family.

Before a judge imposed the sentence Tuesday, 18-year-old Alyssa Bustamante faced the family of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten.

Bustamante said "If I could give my life to bring her back I would -- I'm sorry."

Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce sentenced Bustamante to life in prison with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder and additional 30 years for armed criminal action, with the sentences to run consecutively.

Defense attorneys had argued for a lesser sentence, citing Bustamante's mental health issues and troubled childhood.

Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence and cited journal entries in which Bustamante described how she killed Elizabeth.

Bustamante confessed to strangling Elizabeth, repeatedly stabbing her in the chest and slicing the girl's throat. She led police to the shallow grave where she had concealed Elizabeth's body under a blanket of leaves in the woods behind their neighborhood.

They noted that Bustamante had dug two graves several days in advance, and that on the evening of the killing had sent her younger sister to lure Elizabeth outside with an invitation to play. Missouri State
Highway Patrol Sgt. David Rice testified that the teenager told him "she wanted to know what it felt like" to kill someone.

"I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they're dead," Bustamante wrote in her diary, which was read in court by a handwriting expert. "I don't know how to feel atm. It was ahmazing. As soon as you get over the `ohmygawd I can't do this' feeling, it's pretty enjoyable. I'm kinda nervous and shaky though right now. Kay, I gotta go to church now...lol."

Bustamante then headed off to a youth dance at her church while a massive search began for the missing girl.