Crime & Safety
Plea Entry in Sierra LaMar Case Could Be Delayed
Antolin Garcia-Torres is scheduled to enter a plea Wednesday in connection to the presumed murder of 15-year-old Sierra LaMar.
Sierra LaMar murder suspect Antolin Garcia-Torres is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to possibly enter a plea.
Torres, who is the sole suspect in the murder case of the Fremont native, in scheduled to appear in Department 23 of the San Jose Hall of Justice at 2 p.m. Wednesday. He is charged with murder with the special circumstance of kidnapping.
Santa Clara County Prosecutor David Boyd said it's "standard, routine" for a plea entry to be delayed in criminal cases such as this.
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Boyd said prosecutors have not yet decided whether they'll seek the death penalty for Garcia-Torres, 21, accused of kidnapping and murdering 15-year-old Sierra who was last seen March 16 on her way to catch the morning bus to Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill.
Criminal attorney and legal analyst Steven Clark, who's been present during the proceedings but is not directly working on the case, explained the plea triggers many timelines in the case.
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"You don't want to enter a plea until you have to," Clark said. "[The defense] could go on for several more months. ...This is just a monumental investigation. This is not a routine murder case. It's a very complicated case in which there are multiple levels of the investigation ... This case is far from being resolved because they're still looking for the body."
Garcia-Torres, who lived with his mother, pregnant girlfriend and child a few miles away from Sierra's home on Maple Leaf RV Park on Monterey Road, is being held at the Santa Clara County Jail without bail.
Searches for Sierra continue in the Morgan Hill area on Saturdays. Wednesday searches were recently discontinued.
County sheriff's investigators allege Garcia-Torres' DNA was found on the girl's clothing and her DNA found in the suspect's Volkswagen Jetta. He was arrested May 21 at Tennant Avenue and Monterey Road in Morgan Hill outside the Safeway store where he was formerly employed.
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