The case centers on 14-year-old Rubi Perez, whose body was found April 9 near Veterans Memorial Park.

GREAT BEND, Kan. — Prosecutors have asked a Barton County judge to try a 14-year-old boy as an adult in the killing of Rubi Perez, a Great Bend eighth grader found dead near a city park one day after she was reported missing.

The May 4 motion marks the newest turn in a case that has shaken a central Kansas community and pushed a juvenile murder charge toward a higher-stakes court fight. The boy, whose name has not been released because of his age, is charged with first-degree murder. If a judge grants the adult-court request, his identity would become public and the case would move out of the usual closed juvenile process.

The case began about 8:36 p.m. April 8, when Great Bend police responded to a report of a missing 14-year-old girl. Police said the girl had last been reported as attending a class at Holy Family School, 4200 Broadway Ave., a Catholic school and parish area on the west side of town. Officers checked tips and possible locations through the night, but they did not find her before morning. Just after 9 a.m. April 9, officers were called to the 4700 block of 17th Street Terrace for a report of a juvenile female behind a large pile of dirt. Police later identified the girl as Perez and said she was dead at the scene.

Investigators processed the scene, interviewed people and served several search warrants before arresting a 14-year-old boy later that day. Great Bend police said the boy was taken to the Barton County Detention Center on a requested first-degree murder charge. Barton County Attorney J. Colin Reynolds later announced that the juvenile was formally accused in Perez’s death. Police have not released a motive, and authorities have not publicly released detailed findings about the cause or manner of death. Local television reports cited friends and people near the scene who described a heavy police presence and said they had heard Perez suffered blunt-force trauma, but that detail has not been confirmed in a public law enforcement statement.

The adult-prosecution request also places attention on how the court is handling records in the case. A detention first appearance was scheduled for April 21 in Barton County District Court. Reporting from the courthouse said the proceeding was closed after a judge sealed the case. A later report said another district court judge reopened the case to public access last week. The May 4 motion now asks the court to take another step by moving the prosecution into adult court, a decision that could change the public record, the possible penalties and the way future hearings are conducted.

Perez was an eighth-grade student at Great Bend Middle School, less than a mile east of the park area and Catholic complex where the search focused. Her obituary said she was born Oct. 13, 2011, in Great Bend to Raul and Araceli Gonzalez Perez. It described her as a standout student who spread positivity among peers and teachers, and as an athlete who excelled in track, volleyball and basketball. She was survived by her parents, two brothers, grandparents, aunts, an uncle, cousins and many friends. The obituary said her grandmother Maria Perez died before her.

The public facts give a tight but incomplete timeline. Police were alerted Wednesday night, followed possible leads, then found Perez shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday. The location was near Veterans Memorial Park and across from the Great Bend cemetery area, close to railroad tracks and open ground. Manuel Polanco, who told KAKE he was nearby when police blocked off the area, said he saw people standing around a large dirt pile and “a lot of cops, maybe 10 or 15 or so.” Police said the Great Bend Police Department was assisted by the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Great Bend Fire Department.

At Great Bend Middle School, word of the discovery moved quickly from phones to classrooms. Bella Donna Werner, a friend of Perez, told KAKE the school day already felt wrong before students learned what had happened. “Yesterday was off,” Werner said. She said she first thought Perez might be at breakfast when classmates noticed she was not there. Later, she said, a teacher told her Perez had been found, then sat her down and explained that she had not been found alive. The account showed how the case reached students before many public details were known.

The legal issue now before the court is separate from guilt or innocence. A judge must decide whether the boy should remain in juvenile court or face proceedings as an adult. Kansas law allows prosecutors to seek adult prosecution in serious juvenile cases, but the decision is made by the court. Because the suspect is 14, his name has remained withheld. The charge filed against him alleges first-degree murder, described in later court reporting as intentional and premeditated. No public hearing date on the adult-court motion has been widely announced.

Services for Perez were held April 15, with visitation at Bryant Funeral Home and a Mass of Christian Burial at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church. Her family asked people to wear white in her honor. Those details became part of a public remembrance that stood beside the police timeline, filling in who Perez was while court documents continued to reveal little about what investigators believe happened between her last reported class and the morning discovery.

The case remains active in Barton County District Court as of May 8. The next major milestone is the judge’s decision on whether the 14-year-old suspect will be prosecuted as a juvenile or as an adult.

Author note: Last updated May 8, 2026.