Kansas man charged with murdering burned teen
By BILL DRAPER Associated Press Writer The Associated Press
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 3:36 PM EDT

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A 36-year-old factory worker who spent much of his adult life in prison was charged Tuesday with sexually assaulting and murdering a 14-year-old girl whose badly burned body was found behind gravel piles at the asphalt plant where he worked.

Adam Joseph Longoria was charged with capital murder, criminal sodomy, vehicular theft and vehicular burglary and in the August death of Alicia DeBolt. He could be sentenced to death if convicted of the murder charge, but prosecutors said they hadn't decided whether to seek such a sentence.

During Tuesday's hearing in Barton County Court, Longoria stood with his fists leaning on the table in front of him and stared frequently at Alicia's family. Asked by the judge if he understood the charges, Longoria looked away from the judge and said, "Yeah."

Alicia, who would have been a freshman at Great Bend High School this year, disappeared after leaving home on Aug. 21 to go to a party. Her family reported her missing the next day, leading to an intense search until her body was found Aug. 24 behind gravel piles at an asphalt plant in the city where Longoria, also known as "Rocco," worked. The city is home to about 15,000 people and in the middle of the state.

Authorities on Tuesday again refused to say how Alicia was killed, and State Attorney General Steve Six said this was because of the high-profile nature of the case. He described some of the chatter on Internet message boards about the girl's killing "horrific" and misleading.

Six said he doesn't anticipate charging anybody else in Alicia's slaying.

Longoria's attorney, Jeff Wicks of the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit, declined to comment after the hearing, during which Longoria's bond was increased to $1.5 million.

Alicia's family also declined to comment. Several family members, including her mother, were ushered into a side room outside of the courtroom and kept away from reporters.

Six said he met with Alicia's family over the weekend.

"It's completely devastating," Six said. "They are still in shock and recovering from that. It's something they're continuing to struggle with all the time."

In a statement issued after Alicia's funeral last week, her family described Alicia as "vivacious" and said she was looking forward to the start of her freshman year and to cheerleading. Nicknamed "Babygurl," she was the kind of person who didn't know a stranger and would help people anyway she could, the family said.

Longoria was arrested and charged with vehicular theft and burglary in the disappearance of a white Ford Explorer owned by his employer, Venture Corp. Alicia's body, which was so badly burned that a coroner had to use dental records to identify her, was found at the company's plant.

Longoria was released May 25 from a Texas prison after serving a seven-year sentence for aggravated robbery. Since 1991, Longoria served prison stints in Texas for charges including burglary, forgery, credit card abuse, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, escape from prison and evading arrest.



Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Score for the prison system n

They need to make prisons here inhuman again. Nothing like a good incentive not to go to prison.

yea. rehabilitation and all.  

There would be plenty of room for violent offenders if not for all the non-violent drug offenders.  To house everyone, we need more prisons and more money.  

This thread needs moar electric chair.

Get a rope. 14 years old......

I predict he won't make it long in general population.

My daughter is everything to me.

I would go insane, then full LAC (as in the movie:  "Law Abiding Citizen").  

The most medieval torture possible would be far too generous and humane for this complete fucking POS.

Fuck, I hate stories like this...why do I click/read ???

It's the Texas justice system that cut him loose. Blame them for the short sentences.  Real easy to blame a unappreciated prison system. One has to put the blame where it really goes and that would be the ruling political party in Texas. If memory serves that would be the GOP since 2002.

Let the excuses begin.

Public executions broad cast on TV. We have tryed it the all we are saying is give peace a chance way for decades let try it the other way for 1 year and see if violent crime goes down then decide.

You ever been in a prison before?

You ever met someone who was in prison for just possessing drugs?

PRK has a three strikes law –– on the third felony the criminal gets an extra 20 years.  Texas needs a Texas version –– like a death sentence on the third strike.  That POS should never have been allowed out.

I worked in Structured Sentencing.  I have had dinner with convicted murderers.  So, I know something about offenders.  I am not saying that guys in prison aren't bad.  I am saying that sending someone there can turn them from a non-violent person into a menace.  

We cannot spend less on prisons and have more people in them as things stand currently.