Trial date set for accused killer of Sierra LaMar

Marcia Slacke, executive director of Child Quest International in San Jose, Ca., wears buttons of kidnap victims Polly Klaas and Sierra Lamar as guests gather at the Fairmont Hotel on Tuesday Oct. 1, 2013, in San Francisco, Calif. Twenty years after the kidnap and murder of Polly Klaas Mark Klaas her father invited relatives, friends and law enforcement to gather together to remember Polly and those still missing. less Marcia Slacke, executive director of Child Quest International in San Jose, Ca., wears buttons of kidnap victims Polly Klaas and Sierra Lamar as guests gather at the Fairmont Hotel on Tuesday Oct. 1, 2013, in ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Trial date set for accused killer of Sierra LaMar 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

More than three years after Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar went missing, a trial date was set Wednesday for her accused killer.

Antolin Garcia-Torres, 23, will go to trial in April on a murder charge even though the body of the 15-year-old girl — who is presumed dead by authorities — hasn’t been found after exhaustive searches of waterways, trails and rugged country throughout the region.

Santa Clara County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Garcia-Torres. He has pleaded not guilty to a grand jury indictment alleging that he killed Sierra in 2012 and tried to kidnap three women in 2009.

Sierra was last seen March 16, 2012, in her home in an unincorporated area near Morgan Hill. Authorities say she was kidnapped and killed by Garcia-Torres, whom she did not know. Investigators followed Garcia-Torres for weeks before arresting him, hoping he would lead them to Sierra’s body.

Authorities have said they believe Garcia-Torres, driving a route he usually took on his way to work, saw Sierra from his Volkswagen Jetta, snatched her from a bus stop and killed her. Sierra’s DNA was allegedly found in the Jetta, while Garcia-Torres’ DNA was purportedly found on clothes belonging to Sierra that were found near the bus stop.

Garcia-Torres was indicted on a charge of murder with the special circumstance of killing in the course of a kidnapping.

The indictment also accuses him of trying to kidnap and carjack three women, one of whom he allegedly accosted with a stun gun. One of the incidents occurred in the parking lot of a Safeway store in Morgan Hill where the defendant had worked.

“I truly believe that there needs to be a constitutional amendment for victims of crime,” Marc Klaas, the father of murder victim Polly Klaas, said Wednesday. “I say that simply because I believe that Sierra’s family deserves the right to a speedy trial just as much, if not more than the defendant in this case. One hopes that they will get some semblance of justice out of all this.”

Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hlee@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @henryklee