Jury Selection Begins Monday In Sierra LaMar Case

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – Jury selection is expected to start Monday for a 25-year-old man who allegedly kidnapped and killed a teenage girl missing since 2012 out of unincorporated Morgan Hill and attempted to kidnap three other women three years before.

Antolin Garcia-Torres is accused of abducting 15-year-old Sierra Lamar, who was last seen leaving her home for school on March 16, 2012.

Sierra didn't show up to her bus stop that morning and her body hasn't been found in the more than four years since she disappeared.

The girl's cellphone recovered in a field south of San Jose and Juicy purse and clothes were found two days after she went missing.

Garcia-Torres was identified as a suspect in May 2012 when Sierra's DNA was detected in his red Volkswagen Jetta.

Last month, Superior Court Judge Vanessa Zecher denied a motion brought by Garcia-Torres' attorneys who sought a separate trial for charges he's facing in three attempted kidnappings from 2009 at parking lots outside Morgan Hill Safeway grocery stores, which will be heard together with Sierra's case.

Two of the three female victims were assaulted as they were leaving or returning to their cars, and the third victim drove away as the suspect attempted to enter her vehicle, the defense attorneys said.

A stun gun battery found in one of the attempted kidnappings had Garcia-Torres' fingerprint on it, but the three victims didn't identify him as the suspect, according to the defense attorneys.

Prosecutors argued that all the alleged crimes share common themes of intention to kidnap, stalk and assault.

"Although there may be some potential prejudice to the charges remaining joined, the defendant has not made a clear showing of prejudice to support the granting of the Motion of Severance," Zecher wrote in her order.

In August, Zecher decided against holding the trial in another jurisdiction after hearing a change of venue motion brought by the defense attorneys, who argued that Garcia-Torres wouldn't receive a fair trial in
Santa Clara County based on how the case is still receiving public attention and resonated with many community members who helped in organized searches for Sierra's body.

The fact that Sierra was a child and "universal daughter" will follow the case wherever it's heard, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Garcia-Torres, who was indicted by a criminal grand jury on all the charges in 2014.

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Previous Sierra LaMar case coverage:

• Man Accused Of Sierra LaMar's Murder Can Not Have Separate Trials For 3 Kidnap Attempts At Supermarket
• JUST IN: Sierra LaMar Trial To Stay In Santa Clara County
• Ruling On Venue Change In Sierra Lamar Trial Expected By Week's End
• Sierra Lamar Murder Trial Now Delayed Until June
• Sierra Lamar Murder Trial Delayed To May 23
• DA Will Seek Death Penalty in Sierra LaMar Case
• Grand Jury Transcripts in Kidnap-Murder of Sierra LaMar Ordered Released by Judge
• Human Remains Found Near Gilroy Not Believed To Be Sierra LaMar
• Grand Jury Indicts Suspect in Sierra Lamar Case
• Sierra LaMar Search Focuses on South Morgan Hill
• Investigators Identify Vehicle Linked to Sierra LaMar Disappearance
• Volunteers Continue Search for Sierra LaMar
• Timeline: 4 Months Into Sierra LaMar Disappearance
• Wednesday Searches For Sierra LaMar Discontinued
• Sheriff: Sierra LaMar’s Murder was ‘Purely Random’
• Sierra LaMar’s Mom Speaks to Alleged Killer
• Man Arrested in Connection to Sierra LaMar Disappearance
• LaMar Murder Charges Filed Despite Missing Body
• Sierra LaMar Murder Suspect to Be Arraigned Thursday
• Updated: Sierra LaMar Murder Suspect Waives Arraignment on Murder Charge
• Sierra LaMar Murder Suspect Linked to One Assault Case in Morgan Hill
• Prosecutors Still Sorting Evidence in Sierra LaMar Murder-Kidnap Case
• UPDATE: Sierra LaMar Believed To Be Alive

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