A Los Angeles-area youth soccer coach was charged with the murder of a 13-year-old boy, as well as the assault of two other teenagers, during a court hearing on Tuesday.
Prosecutors accused Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino, 43, of killing Oscar Omar Hernandez, whose body was found by the side of the road in Ventura county. Garcia Aquino was charged with murder with special circumstances during the commission or attempted commission of lewd acts with a child.
The charge comes with a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty. The Los Angeles county district attorney’s office will decide whether to seek the death penalty at a later date.
The district attorney’s office also charged Garcia Aquino with a sexual offense or lewd act upon a child involving a teenager around 14 or 15 years old in 2022 and assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense involving a 16-year-old in February 2024.
“No parent should ever have to endure the unimaginable pain and sorrow of learning their child has been murdered,” the district attorney, Nathan J Hochman, said in a statement. “Oscar simply boarded a train and little did he or his family know that he would never return. Sexual predators who target victims for their own gratification will be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Garcia Aquino coached youth soccer with the Hurricane Valley boys soccer club, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing local authorities.
Hernandez’s family reported Oscar missing on 30 March after he had boarded a train to help Garcia Aquino make soccer jerseys in Lancaster on 28 March.
Last week, family and friends gathered for a vigil and press conference at the location Oscar’s body had been found. “He didn’t need to be treated like an animal. That was my son,” his mother, Gladys Bautista, cried out in Spanish, ABC News’ Los Angeles station KABC reported.
Hernandez’s family, who are from Honduras, told KCAL News they wondered whether Garcia Aquino had targeted families who did not have legal status in the United States.
The Los Angeles county sheriff, Robert Luna, said his office is looking to speak with others who may have been assaulted by Garcia Aquino. He encouraged victims to come forward regardless of their immigration status.
“I’m here today specifically seeking additional victims on a child sexual abuse case involving … Mario Garcia Aquino from the Palmdale area,” he said at a Monday news conference.
