A detention hearing first appearance has been set for 9:30 a.m. April 21 for a 14-year-old juvenile male in connection with the death of a 14-year-old girl whose body was discovered the morning of April 8 in the vicinity of Veterans Park in Great Bend.

The juvenile defendant was taken into custody at Barton County Jail that Thursday afternoon following an extensive investigation of the crime scene that involved the Great Bend Police Department, Barton County Sheriff’s Office and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s Crime Scene Response Team, on the requested charge of first degree murder. The juvenile was then transferred to the Reno County Juvenile Detention Center.

An initial detention hearing was conducted April 13 by Zoom with 20th District Lay Magistrate Judge Timarie Ann Walters presiding.

Continued support

Various fundraisers have been scheduled benefitting the family of 14-year-old Rubi Paulina Perez, whose funeral was Wednesday. On Thursday evening, a team of Great Bend Fire Department first responders took on the Harlem Wizards on the Great Bend High School basketball court, hosted by Kansas Freemasons and Isis Shrine. Tickets for a raffle scheduled for next week went on sale Friday and continue Saturday until 5 p.m., sponsored by the Luna family at DL Window Tint. Other fundraisers can be found by checking Facebook on social media.

Meanwhile, a Great Bend martial arts school, Blindside Grappling, has relocated to the gymnasium at City Hall in Hoisington as a larger venue offering free self-defense and jiu-jitsu classes for the next six months to all middle school, high school and college-aged girls in the community. The class is planned to run Thursday evenings from 5:30-6:30 p.m. While the program is free for girls aged 11 to college age, women outside of the age group are welcome to attend and participate with the group.