SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - The Latest on a missing California girl’s murder trial (all times local):
9:25 a.m.
A jury in San Jose has found a man guilty in the 2012 killing of a 15-year-old Northern California girl whose body has not been discovered.
The jury on Tuesday found 26-year-old Antolin Garcia-Torres guilty for the killing and kidnapping of Sierra LaMar. She disappeared on March 16, 2012, on her way to a school bus stop near her home in Morgan Hill, a rural community about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Jose.
Her school books, purse and clothing were found near a shed in a field about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) from her home.
Police arrested Garcia-Torres two months later after investigators found his DNA in her handbag and his car.
Sheriff’s officials have said the two did not know each other and they believe her abduction was a random act of violence.
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8 a.m.
Jurors say they have reached a verdict in the murder trial of a man accused of randomly abducting and killing a 15-year-old Northern California girl on her way to school.
The Santa Clara County Superior Court says the verdict will be read at 9 a.m. Tuesday after a three-month trial.
Antolin Garcia-Torres was pleaded not guilty to killing Sierra Lamar in 2012 in Morgan Hill, a rural community about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of San Jose. Lamar’s body has never been found. The 26-year-old has also pleaded not guilty to charges he tried to kidnap and carjack three women in 2009 as they returned to their cars late at night in Morgan Hill parking lots.
The jurors could recommend the death penalty if they find Garcia-Torres guilty of murder.
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