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WEBVTT 4:00.LIKE I SAID, WE ARE CHECKING INWITH INVESTIGATORS EVERY HOUR.IN THE SIERRA -- IN THE BAYAREA, INJURY HAS FOUND ANTOLINGARCIA TORRES GUILTY.LAMAR DISAPPEARED MARCH 16, 2012ON HER WAY TO A BUS STOP NEARHER HOME IN MORGAN HILL.THAT IS JUST SOUTH OF SAN JOSE.THE PROSECUTION SAYS THEY FOUNDTRACES OF HER DNA IN HIS CAR,INCLUDING ON A SINGLE STRAND OFHER HAIR ON A ROPE IN HIS TRUNK.WORSE YET TORRES HAD NO REACTIONWHEN THE GUILTY VERDICT WASREAD.MANY PEOPLE ATTENDED.AN OVERFLOW COURTROOM WAS MADETO ACCOMMODATE THE VERY LARGECROWD.TODAY, LMAR'S PARENTS WEREGREETING AND HUGGING PEOPLE.>> NOTHING WILL TA AWAY THEPAIN AND THE SORROW THAT WEEXPERIENCE EVERY DAY AND WE WILLCONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE FOR THEREST OF OUR LIVES.BUT REALLY, WE HAVE BEEN PRAYINGFOR THE CHAPTER TO HAVE THISTYPE OF ENDING.JUSTICE.IT GIVES US PEACE AS A FAMILYKNOWING THAT THIS IS NOT GOINGTO HAPPEN TO ANOTHER CHILD, ANDTHAT HE CAN'T GET AWAY WITHSOMETHING LIKE THIS.>> JUSTICE IS SERVED HERE FOR ASTODAY.JUSTICE FOR SIERRA.SO THAT GIVES US SOME FORM OFRELIEF.IT WILL NEVER TAKE AWAY OURGRIEF.THAT WILL BE WITH US FOREVER.>> WE WILL OBVIOUSLY NEVER GETSIERRA BACK, SO IT'S NOTCLOSURE.BUT IT IS A GOOD FIRST STEP.LISA: SUCH EMOTIONAL THERE.HARD TO IMAGINE THE PAIN THATFAMILY IS FEELING.THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT HASSAID THAT THE TWO DO NOT KNOWEACH OTHER AND THEY BELIEVE HERABDUCTION WAS A RANDOM ACT OFVIOLENCE.

Advertisement Suspect found guilty in murder of Bay Area teen Sierra LaMar Antolin Garcia-Torres pleaded not guilty in Morgan Hill teen's disappearance Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The suspect charged in the disappearance of Sierra LaMar, 15, was found guilty Tuesday in the Bay Area girl's murder. A jury determined that Antolin Garcia-Torres, 26, was guilty of first-degree murder and three counts of kidnapping from a case in 2009. The jury will reconvene on May 16 to determine whether Garcia-Torres should be sentenced to death in Sierra's murder. "Nothing will take away the pain and sorrow we experience every day," Marlene LaMar, Sierra's mother, told reporters outside court Tuesday. "But it gives us peace as a family to know this isn't going to happen to another child." Garcia-Torres pleaded not guilty to the 2012 killing of Sierra as she was on her way to a school bus stop in Morgan Hill, a rural community about 25 miles south of San Jose. Sierra's body has never been found. More coverage: Dive teams scour reservoirs in Sierra LaMar search "We obviously will never get Sierra back," Sierra's father, Steve LaMar, said Tuesday. "It's not closure, but it's a good first step. Police arrested Garcia-Torres two months after Sierra was reported missing when investigators found a strand of Sierra's hair in the trunk of Garcia-Torres' car and his genetic material was found on her pants and purse found near a shed in a field about 2 miles from her home two days later. Garcia-Torres lived about 7 miles from Sierra in a trailer he shared with his mother, girlfriend and young daughter. Investigators said Sierra and Garcia-Torres did not know each other and that he randomly decided to abduct and kill her. Investigators told jurors they found a strand of Sierra's hair on a rope in the trunk of Garcia-Torres' car. They said they also found his DNA on her pants found in a vacant field. He told police he never met the teen. His attorney argued that the teen may have run away. Garcia-Torres' attorney Alfonso Lopez told jurors that Sierra may have runaway because she was upset that she was moving from Fremont to Morgan Hills because of her parents' divorce. Garcia-Torres was found guilty on three kidnapping charges from 2009 in a case where he tried to kidnap and carjack three women -- an 18-year-old from Gilroy, a 46-year-old from San Martin and a 36-year-old from Morgan Hill -- in 2009 as they returned to their cars late at night in Morgan Hill parking lots. Garcia-Torres also pleaded not guilty to these charges. Prosecutors said they believe Garcia-Torres is a predator and that the attempted kidnappings helped him prepare for Sierra's abduction and murder. Sierra's family and friends will be called to testify at the penalty phase of the trial next week when prosecutors plan to ask for the death penalty.