A flyer for “Missing Person” seeking help in searching for 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez was practicing football at San Fernando Valley Park on Tuesday.
The paper with a photo of the North Hollywood boy was posted on Whitzet Soccer Field after Oscar Omar was reported missing by his family on March 30th.
The child’s 43-year-old soccer coach Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino was charged with murder on Monday in a cycle of development that the community was surprised and sought answers.
“He took the kids forward and played football,” said Jasmine Martinez, former neighbor of Garcia Aquino in Sylmer, who said the authorities are youth soccer coach at the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club.
The family said Oscar Omar took the train on March 28 to Garcia Aquino’s current home in the Lancaster/Palmdale area of the high desert in northern Los Angeles. They said they believe he is being paid for strange jobs in his coach’s estate.
Five days later, Oscar’s body was found approximately 80 miles to the southwest of the Ventura County community in Oxnard.
Garcia Aquino was first arrested last week in an unrelated sexual assault case in 2024, where he allegedly attacked the 16-year-old at his Lancaster home. He was charged on Tuesday with an additional count of alleged sexual assault on a teenager in 2022.
Law enforcement in Los Angeles is urging victims to move forward after the arrest of a football coach accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old and murdering a 13-year-old. Robert Kovacik is reporting NBC4 News’ report on Monday, April 7, 2025 at 11pm.
Martinez said he felt that he often made excuses to visit her and her and her four children.
“Most of the time, he was always trying to make sure he’s around the kids,” Martinez said.
Martinez said Garcia Aquino was her neighbor in 2021. She last saw him in 2023, but never witnessed the boys who visited the house appear to have been heard screaming rather than being abused.
“He had a few boys around here, and there were about seven or eight boys,” Martinez said. “He would always bring his front yards, so he would put them inside before.
“The only thing was he was always screaming and always pounding inside.”
Oscar’s family told NBCLA that they have reserved for children to stay with Garcia Aquino, but said the football club coach had a level of trust.
Law enforcement officials told the NBCLA that they received numerous calls to the public after requesting information at a press conference on other unreported cases involving the coach.
The lawsuit filed Monday saw Garcia Aquino being charged with a single count of first-degree murder, with a special circumstance claim that the murder took place during another violent felony committee, including robbery and rape.
Garcia Aquino faces six years in prison for sexual assault without the possibility of parole for murder.
LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, who announced his office was seeking the death penalty again last month, said he would consider seeking Garcia Aquino’s death penalty.
The US Lawyer’s Office in Los Angeles issued a statement Tuesday in response to questions about Garcia Aquino’s immigration status.
“It was an avoidable crime and the result of a failed border policy,” said Attorney Bill Essay. “We cannot tolerate illegal aliens who underestimate our country’s immigration laws and then prey on children.
Garcia Aquino appeared in court on Tuesday, but his arrest continued. It was not immediately clear whether he had a lawyer.
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