A youth soccer coach has been charged with the murder of a 13-year-old Los Angeles boy whose body was found dumped in a ditch.
Oscar “Omar” Hernandez was reported missing by his family on March 30 after failing to return from a visit to Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino’s Lancaster home. The boy’s family said Oscar had gone to help his coach make soccer jerseys.
But when Oscar’s brother called his cell to track him down, the coach allegedly answered and said the boy was too busy to talk.
Los Angeles Police Department detectives and the FBI found the victim dead off the side of a road in a heavily wooded area near McGrath State Beach in Oxnard last Wednesday.
Garcia-Aquino, 43, has now been charged with murder with special circumstances and is due to be arraigned on Tuesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. Prosecutors also announced separate felony charges of assault with intent to commit a lewd act involving a 16-year-old in February last year.
If convicted, Garcia-Aquino faces a possible maximum sentence of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“Garcia-Aquino is accused of killing Oscar and then dumping his body in Oxnard,” the county DA’s office wrote in a statement Monday. Authorities have not revealed the manner of the boy’s death.
“Oscar simply boarded a train and little did he or his family know that he would never return,” Hochman said in a statement. “Sexual predators who target victims for their own gratification will be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Investigators used data from tracking systems including cellular devices and cellphone towers to determine that Garcia-Aquino visited an area near where the boy’s body was found, law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles Times.
Multiple law enforcement sources told The Times that Garcia-Aquino was an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador.
Hernandez’s family held a vigil in the area where his body was discovered Thursday.
“He didn't need to be treated like an animal. That was my son,” his mother, Gladys Bautista, told KABC.
Alejandra Hernandez set up a GoFundMe fundraiser to help support the family cover funeral costs which had raised around $16,000 on Tuesday morning of its $28,000 goal.
“It is with deep sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Omar Hernandez, a beloved student of Sun Valley Magnet,” she wrote. “As his family faces this unimaginable loss, we are coming together to support them during this difficult time.”
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that the department is committed to pursuing justice for Hernandez’s family.
“While we all hoped for a different outcome, the tireless work of multiple law enforcement agencies has ensured that this dangerous individual is off the streets and is no longer a threat to our children and our communities,” he added in a statement Monday.
The Independent has contacted the DA’s office for more information.
