By AP/St. Louis Public Radio
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. –
A state appeals court will consider whether a central Missouri teenager should be allowed to continue her education while awaiting trial on a charge of murdering her 9-year-old neighbor.
The Western District appeals court agreed Wednesday to accept written arguments on the request from attorneys for 16-year-old Alyssa Bustamante.
A Cole County judge has twice denied requests to let Bustamante enroll in a distance learning program from jail to complete her high school degree.
Bustamante is being tried as an adult. She has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder for the October slaying of Elizabeth Olten.
Law officers say Bustamante confessed in a police interview and led them to Olten's body in a wooded area west of Jefferson City.