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Youth soccer coach, 43, arrested on murder charge after missing 13-year-old player is found dead roadside
@Source: dailymail.co.uk
Youth soccer coach, 43, arrested on murder charge after missing 13-year-old player is found dead roadside
READ MORE: Texas teen arrested after fatally fellow student at track meet
By ALEX RASKIN
Published: 17:27 BST, 8 April 2025 | Updated: 17:29 BST, 8 April 2025
A Los Angeles-area youth soccer coach has been charged with murder with special circumstances after one of his players was found dead in Oxnard, California.
Oscar Omar Hernandez, 13, was reported missing by family on March 30 after he 'failed to return home from visiting an acquaintance in Lancaster,' according to police.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Hernandez had gone to visit his soccer coach, 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino.
Oscar's body was discovered on the side of the road in Oxnard near Leo Carrillo State Beach, Hochman said. Hochman does not yet have details on how Oscar was killed.
Separately, Garcia-Aquino has also been charged with a felony count of assault with intent to commit a lewd act against a 16-year-old boy in February of 2024, according to Hochman.
Garcia-Aquino was arrested Wednesday on the 2024 charge. He is due to appear in court on Tuesday.
Oscar Omar Hernandez, 13, was reported missing by family on March 30 after he 'failed to return home from visiting an acquaintance in Lancaster,' according to police
PICTURED: 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, who is accused of murdering Oscar
Heartbroken dad of teen arrested for murder at Texas track meet claims his son 'didn't start it'
'These cases are tragic, and the Hernandez family, you have our deepest sympathy for a loss that words cannot even begin to describe,' Hochman said at a press release.
'Our role, though, is to bring justice to this family and to hold the person responsible for these brutal, heinous, unspeakable, unthinkable acts, hold them accountable and prosecute and punish them to the full extent of the law.'
Garcia-Aquino could face the death penalty or life behind bars without the possibility of parole if convicted on the murder charge in addition to a potential six years in prison for the alleged assault.
Police are asking anyone with knowledge about the case to come forward.
'There's always a fear that there's more victims, and we want to make sure we account for everybody that's out there,' Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday.
Oscar's body was discovered on the side of the road in Oxnard near Leo Carrillo State Beach
Police are asking anyone with knowledge about the case to come forward
Oscar's family did not address media at Monday's press briefing, but his mother, Gladys, was heard crying out in Spanish: 'He didn't need to be treated like an animal. That was my son'
Garcia-Aquino (far right), a youth soccer coach in the Sylmar area, has no criminal record
Luna stressed that immigration status will not be addressed by police for any forthcoming witness.
'If for some reason anybody fears coming forward, even as a youth or a family, because you may be here undocumented, we're not going to ask about that,' Luna said. 'Please. You need to come forward. We will assist you – whether it's our department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the LA County District Attorney's Office – any of us are going to wrap our arms around you and make sure that you get the appropriate services. We guide you the right way and we protect you as well.'
Garcia-Aquino, a youth soccer coach in the Sylmar area, has no criminal record, according to Luna.
Oscar's family did not address media at Monday's press briefing, but his mother, Gladys, was heard crying out in Spanish: 'He didn't need to be treated like an animal. That was my son.'
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Youth soccer coach, 43, arrested on murder charge after missing 13-year-old player is found dead roadside
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