The soccer coach of a 13-year-old boy who was discovered dead along a Ventura County road after going missing for several days was charged with murder on Monday.
Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, has been charged in the death of Oscar Omar Hernandez, who was last seen when he left his Sun Valley home on March 28 to meet Aquino in Lancaster, according to his family. He was found dead in Oxnard five days later.
Garcia-Aquino faces a murder charge with special circumstances for lewd acts with a child, announced Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and law enforcement leaders during a press conference on Monday. They were joined by Hernandez’s family members behind the podium.
Hochman said that Garcia-Aquino killed the teen on March 28, two days before he was reported missing.
Alejandra Hernandez 
Prosecutors also announced felony charges of assault with intent to commit a lewd act for a separate incident involving an unidentified 16-year-old on Feb. 22, 2024 in Palmdale.
“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.
He is expected to be arraigned on Tuesday. He faces life without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged in relation to Hernandez’s murder and six years for the felony assault charge. He was scheduled to appear in court on Monday for arraignment on the 2024 case but did not make it for undisclosed medical reasons.
Missing teen found dead
Oscar Omar Hernandez was last seen days before his body was found in Oxnard on the side of the N. Harbor Boulevard, which runs adjacent to a woodland area near McGrath State Beach.
Oscar’s older sister, Alejandra Hernandez, said her family dropped him off at a San Fernando Valley Metrolink station Friday evening so he could meet his coach to help make soccer jerseys at Garcia-Aquino’s Lancaster home. According to the family, the two were introduced to each other through an after-school soccer program at Whitsett Park in North Hollywood.
“His soccer coach made soccer jerseys,” Alejandra said in Spanish. “He had taken other soccer teammates to help him, and that’s why my brother went.”
Alejandra added that a sibling called Oscar on Friday night to check on him, but the coach answered the phone and said the boy couldn’t answer because his hands were full of paint.
The family said the coach was expected to drive Oscar home Saturday morning, and after that time had passed, he told them that he had dropped the boy off in the afternoon. Calls to Oscar’s phone went unanswered, but there was a response from the phone to a text, which said, “I’m going to a party,” according to the family.
KCAL News 
According to Oscar’s sister, a text from Oscar’s phone to his family said that he was in North Hollywood and refused to be picked up at Whitsett Park. Those were the last texts relatives said they received from the 13-year-old’s phone. They searched for Oscar throughout Saturday night but couldn’t find him.
“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’s elite Robbery-Homicide Division took over the investigation two days after Oscar’s disappearance, which led them to the small woodland area near McGrath State Beach.
It was there that detectives, with help from the FBI, discovered a body matching the description of the missing teen. An exact cause of death has not yet been provided as the investigation continues.
Garcia-Aquino was arrested by LAPD officers before he was transferred into the custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, according to Detective Alan Hamilton. They did not provide additional details on how or where exactly he was located.
Court records show that he was arrested for the 2024 assault charge onthe same day that Hernandez’s body was found.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department 
Previous allegations of assault
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 of their child,” Luna said. “During the investigation and while working with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office … detectives learned that there was another unrelated child sexual abuse case being handled … involving Garcia-Aquino.”
That investigation, which was conducted by the LAPD’s Foothill Division in 2022, was separate from the investigation being handled by LASD’s Special Victims Bureau, which investigates child physical and sexual abuse and adult felony sexual assault cases.
Due to the nature of the crimes, law enforcement officials are seeking additional potential victims. They released photos of Garcia-Aquino, hoping that anyone who knows more would 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. “Garcia-Aquino was a youth travel soccer coach with the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club in the Sylmar area, working with different age divisions.”
Luna said that while coming forward may not be easy, information leading to justice is very important. He also said that anyone afraid to come forward because they may be in the United States as an undocumented citizen can do so without concern.
“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.
