New charges filed against LA soccer coach accused of teen's murder

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office filed more charges against a youth soccer coach accused of killing a 13-year-old boy.

Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, faces nine new charges, all related to child sexual abuse that happened between September 2022 and July 2023. In 2025, prosecutors charged him with assaulting a 16-year-old boy and with murder after he allegedly killed one of his players, 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez.

"These cases are tragic, and the Hernandez family, you have our deepest sympathy for a loss that words cannot even begin to describe," LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in April 2025.

Garcia-Aquino allegedly sexually abused Hernandez and killed him in March 2025. Hernandez's family said Garcia-Aquino owned the Huracan Valley Boys Soccer Club and invited the teenage boy to his home in Lancaster. 

"His soccer coach made soccer jerseys," older sister Alejandra Hernandez said in Spanish. "He had taken other soccer teammates to help him, and that's why my brother went."

The teen never returned home. Investigators located his body near a Ventura County beach a few days after his family reported him missing. The Ventura County Medical Examiner classified Hernandez's death as a homicide, caused by acute ethanol intoxication. 

More allegations against Garcia-Aquino began to surface after Hernandez's death. LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said that in 2024, Garcia-Aquino "befriended a Sylmar family" through the soccer program. They allowed their juvenile son to spend the night at his home in Palmdale. 

"The family subsequently filed a criminal report with the Palmdale Sheriff's Station alleging sexual abuse of their child," Luna said. 

The investigation led detectives to an unrelated case handled by the Los Angeles Police Department in 2022. The cases led investigators to release Garcia-Aquino's picture, urging any potential victims to come forward.