Retrial begins Monday for suspect accused of killing Sierra LaMar in 2012. Here's what to know
Santa Clara County prosecutors will be back in court Monday for a retrial of Antolin Garcia-Torres, who is accused of killing 15-year-old Sierra LaMar in 2012. Here's what to know ahead of the retrial.
In March of 2012, Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar disappeared while on her way to Sobrante High School, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office; LaMar was 15 at the time and was never found.
Investigators believed she was killed and eventually arrested then-21-year-old Antolin Garcia-Torres as a suspect after deputies said they connected him to the case through DNA evidence. He was charged in May of 2012 with first-degree murder, and in November of that same year, he was charged with three attempted kidnappings that took place in the span of a week in 2009. The incidents happened in Safeway parking lots in Morgan Hill, where Garcia-Torres, then 17, worked at the time, according to court documents.
He was convicted in 2017 of killing LaMar and was also found guilty of the three attempted kidnappings. In February of 2026, his conviction was overturned by the California 6th Appellate District Court.
According to the court, the conviction was overturned due in part to the prosecution's consolidation of the 2009 attempted kidnapping charges near Safeway and the 2012 Sierra LaMar murder charge.
"The charged murder was not sufficiently similar to the Safeway incidents to convey that the perpetrators of each had the same intent, and no direct logical connection between the Safeway incidents and the murder three years later established a common motive," the court wrote in its opinion.
Due to the consolidation, the court states there was improper cross-admission of evidence. According to the court, the defendant's team tried to have separate trials for the LaMar case and the 2009 attempted kidnappings, but the prosecution was against it. And ultimately, the trial court denied it.
"We conclude that the consolidated trial and the improper cross-admission of the charges prejudiced defendant," the appellate court wrote.
The Appellate District Court also wrote that in any retrial of count 1, the murder charge, the prosecution is barred from relying on the following theories.
"In any retrial of count 1, based on our finding of insufficient evidence of willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder or a specific intent to kill, the prosecution is barred from relying on those theories," the court wrote.
Opening statements will be held on Monday. According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office, Garcia-Torres faces a murder charge and three attempted kidnapping charges.
How to watch the retrial
- When: Nov. 2, 2026, at 9 a.m.
- Where: Streaming on CBS News Bay Area and on the CBS News Bay Area YouTube channel.
