Soccer coach's court arraignment postponed in 13-year-old's murder charge

The youth soccer coach charged with the murder of a 13-year-old boy who was found dead alongside a Ventura County road made his first downtown Los Angeles court appearance in the case on Tuesday afternoon, with his arraignment continued to another date. 

Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, is charged in the death of Oscar Omar Hernandez, who was last seen when he left his Sun Valley home on March 28 to meet Garcia-Aquino in Lancaster, according to his family. He was found dead in Oxnard five days later.

On Monday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced a murder charge with special circumstances for lewd acts with a child. Hochman said that Garcia-Aquino killed the boy on March 28, two days before he was reported missing. 

Prosecutors also announced felony charges of assault with intent to commit a lewd act for a separate incident involving an unidentified 16-year-old just over one year ago in Palmdale. 

The District Attorney's Office amended the complaint Tuesday to include one felony count each of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense and lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 years old. On Dec. 10, 2022, Garcia-Aquino allegedly sexually assaulted a teenager at his then-home in Sylmar.

Garcia-Aquino faces life without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged in relation to Hernandez's murder and six years for the 2024 felony assault charge. He was scheduled to appear in Lancaster court on Monday for the 2024 case but did not make it for undisclosed medical reasons.

The District Attorney's Office is expected to subsequently determine "whether or not the death penalty is appropriate for this particular case," Hochman said regarding the Hernandez murder charge.

Hochman said "certain investigative techniques" were used to determine the alleged killer and to find the boy's body in Oxnard, adding that the information will be detailed in court at the appropriate time.

Garcia-Aquino is being held on zero bail.  

Allegations involving Oscar Omar Hernandez

Oscar Omar Hernandez's family said he met Garcia-Aquino through an after-school soccer program at Whitsett Park in North Hollywood.

Days before Oscar's family called the Los Angeles Police Department to report him missing, the family had taken the boy to the train station so he could travel to his coach's house in Lancaster to help him make soccer jerseys on a Friday night.

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

Family phone calls to Oscar's phone went unanswered after he was expected home the next morning, on Saturday. Garcia-Aquino told the family he dropped the boy off in the afternoon, and the family got a text from Oscar's phone saying he was going to a party that day.

"We started contacting his friends, but there was never a party," Alejandra said. "His friends never saw him." 

The family called the Los Angeles Police Department on Sunday morning to report Oscar missing. 

LAPD detectives took over the investigation two days after Oscar's disappearance, which led them to the small woodland area near McGrath State Beach in Oxnard. 

It was there that detectives, with help from the FBI, discovered a body matching the description of the missing boy.

Police seek other potential victims

Due to the nature of the crimes, law enforcement officials are seeking additional potential victims. Photos of Garcia-Aquino have been released in hopes that anyone who knows more will come forward. 

"I'm here today specifically seeking additional victims on a child sexual abuse case involving ... Mario Garcia-Aquino from the Palmdale area," said LA County Sheriff Robert Luna at a Monday news conference.

"Garcia-Aquino was a youth travel soccer coach with the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club in the Sylmar area, working with different age divisions."

Sheriff 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 Palmdale home. The family subsequently filed a criminal report with the Palmdale Sheriff's Station alleging sexual abuse, and Luna said detectives learned at that time of the 2022 child sexual abuse case being investigated that involved Garcia-Aquino.

Josue Hernandez, Oscar's brother, said the family believed Garcia-Aquino targeted families who did not have proper legal status in the United States.

The Hernandez family moved from Honduras to LA a few years ago. 

Luna implored potential victims or anyone with information to contact investigators regardless of their immigration status. 

"We're not gonna ask about that. Please, you need to come forward, we will assist you ... Any of us are gonna wrap our arms around you and make sure you get the appropriate services we guide you the right way and we protect you as well," Luna said.   

Authorities are asking anyone with information about Garcia-Aquino or any alleged other victims to call the LAPD's Juvenile Division, Abused Child Unit at (818) 374-5415 or the Sheriff's Special Victims Bureau at (877) 710-5273.

To remain anonymous, call the Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers hotline at (800) 222-8477 or visit lacrimestoppers.org.

"No matter what your documentation status is, we have a young man that was killed, murdered," Luna said. "That matters, and it should matter to everyone else out there. That's why we're urging the public to ... Whether you speak the language or don't, I don't care where you come from. Please come forward."