The Los Angeles area youth soccer coach’s request for murdering a 13-year-old boy whose body was found along the road in Oxnard raises new questions about his previous criminal investigations regarding his contact with the accused with a minor and his immigrant status.
Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino, 43, was charged with murder in the special circumstances of the death of Oscar Omar Hernandez. Police records show Garcia Aquino is the subject of two previous investigations into alleged misconduct with a child.
Here’s what we know:
Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino reservation photos, 43.
(Jessica Foster/Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office)
Previous case
Garcia Aquino was charged this week with assault with intent to commit rape in connection with the February 22, 2024 incident. According to criminal history filed in court, the coaches “have used their position of trust and trust in committing attacks.” An 16-year-old boy was involved in the crime, authorities said.
Atty, Los Angeles County. Nathan Hochman said this week that the delay in filing requests for 2024 assault was due to the need to thoroughly investigate such crimes.
Garcia Aquino was also the subject of LAPD’s investigation into alleged sexual assault on a minor in 2022, but was not charged as the victim refused to testify against him, according to multiple law enforcement agencies.
On Tuesday, prosecutors charged Garcia Aquino with one felony, committed a sexual offence and intended to act indecently against a 14- or 15-year-old child. Prosecutors allege Garcia Aquino sexually assaulted a teenager at Sylmer’s then home on December 10, 2022.
Sources said both victims had led to his football coaching.
Authorities say Garcia Aquino is a youth travel soccer coach at Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club in the Silmar area and worked in various age divisions.
Atty, Los Angeles County. Nathan Hochman has announced the murder charges against Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino as the parent of Oscar Omar Hernandez.
(Richard Winton/Los Angeles Times)
Immigration status
Several law enforcement agencies that said they were not allowed to speak publicly about the case said Garcia Aquino was an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador.
Garcia Aquino was not in the petition and could not be contacted for comment.
Garcia Aquino is not yet guilty of murder and assault, but the US Department of Homeland Security has issued a statement on X describing him as “an illegal alien who should not be in this country.”
It remains unknown how long Garcia Aquino was in the United States and how exactly he got here.
Murder of Oscar Omar Hernandez
Hernandez’s family had reported a teenager who went missing on Sunday, March 30 after not returning home after visiting Garcia Aquino at his coach’s Lancaster residence.
The teen who lived in Sun Valley was on a train in Antelope Valley the day before he was reported missing. When the boy’s brother tried to call him later that day, the coach answered the boy’s cell phone and said he was too busy to speak.
Family members and investigators said the boy’s father, Daniel Hernandez, later called the coach and insisted that the teen would be dropped off near the family’s home.
After the boy’s disappearance, investigators determined that he had visited the Oxnard area near McGrath State Beach and the Santa Clara River, using data from cell phones, cell phone towers and other tracking systems, according to law enforcement agencies that are not authorized to discuss the probe.
A search by LAPD investigators and FBI agents found the boy’s body alongside North Harbor Boulevard, north of West Gonzalez Road. Investigators did not specify a cause of death.
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