A 43-year-old soccer coach from California has been accused of murder in connection with the disappearance and death of a 13-year-old boy who was discovered dead on the roadside shortly after visiting the coach last month.
Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino was taken into custody last week on a separate sexual assault charge dating back to 2024 in Lancaster, as reported by KNBC. He was scheduled to make a court appearance regarding that charge on Monday, but authorities indicated that he was not brought in due to unspecified medical issues.
During a press briefing, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced that Garcia Aquino was facing murder charges with a special circumstance related to the passing of Oscar Omar Hernandez. In addition, he was also charged with assault with the intent to commit a lewd act against a 16-year-old boy in Palmdale in February 2024.
Authorities said they were seeking further victims of Garcia Aquino after learning about the earlier case.
Hernandez was last seen on March 28 when his family dropped him off at a transit station so he could go to Garcia Aquino’s home, where he was to help make soccer jerseys, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
“His soccer coach made soccer jerseys,” his sister, Alejandra said. “He had taken other soccer teammates to help him, and that’s why my brother went.”
“Then at 9 p.m. my brother called Oscar, but the coach answered. He said Oscar couldn’t answer because his hands were full of paint.”
Garcia Aquino was expected to bring the boy home the next morning, but he didn’t. The family later got a text from Hernandez’s phone saying he was in North Hollywood, and that’s when they started looking for him.
Los Angeles Police eventually brought in the FBI, and last Wednesday, they found his body i a ditch near a state beach in Oxnard.
Hochman said that Garcia Aquino would be eligible for the death penalty if convicted of the special circumstance murder but that his office had not decided if they would seek it. He will be arraigned on Tuesday.
