Latest news with #Garcia-Aquino
New York Post
30-06-2025
- New York Post
Cause of death revealed for California teen allegedly murdered by illegal migrant soccer coach
A 13-year-old boy allegedly murdered by his illegal migrant soccer coach before his body was dumped in a ditch died from alcohol poisoning, California authorities revealed last week. Oscar Omar Hernandez was last seen alive on March 28 after leaving his Sun Valley home to meet his soccer coach, Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 43, according to a complaint from the district attorney's office. Hernandez's family reported him missing two days later after he didn't return from his coach's in the Lancaster/Palmdale area and stopped answering calls. Advertisement The teen's body was discovered alongside a road in Ventura County on April 2. His cause of death was listed as acute ethanol intoxication — or alcohol poisoning — by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office, as reported by NBC Los Angeles. 4 Oscar Omar Hernandez, 13, died from acute alcohol poisoning, according to a medical examiner's report. Courtesy family Advertisement Garcia-Aquino, who had already been under investigation for two other alleged sexual assaults, was charged with murdering Hernandez in April. The soccer coach faces one count of murder with the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission or attempted commission of lewd acts with a child. He is eligible for the death penalty. 4 He was last seen going to visit his soccer coach, Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino. Courtesy family Advertisement Hernandez's family said they dropped the teen off at a train station in the San Fernando Valley so that he could help his coach make soccer jerseys at his Lancaster home. The pair were introduced to each other through an after-school soccer program. 4 Garcia-Aquino has been charged with Hernandez's murder. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department 'His soccer coach made soccer jerseys,' Oscar's sister, Alejandra Hernandez, said. 'He had taken other soccer teammates to help him, and that's why my brother went.' Advertisement Hernandez's relatives called him that night to check on him, but Garcia-Aquino answered the phone instead, and said the boy couldn't speak to them because he hands were full of paint, Alejandra said. Garcia-Aquino was expected to drive the boy home the next morning, but when he never arrived, he told worried relatives that he had dropped the boy off. 4 The teenager's body was found in a ditch by the side of the road in Oxnard, California. KTLA Calls to Hernandez's phone went unanswered, but a response was sent from the phone saying 'I'm going to a party,' according to the family. Garcia-Aquino, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, faces a separate charge stemming from an alleged sex assault against a 16-year-old boy in Palmdale, Calif., in February last year. He allegedly 'befriended a Sylmar family who allowed their juvenile son to stay with him at his residence in Palmdale,' Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said at a press conference in April. He also faces child sexual abuse charges stemming from a case in 2022 investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department. Advertisement Garcia-Aquino pleaded not guilty on June 18 to murder, including special circumstances for lewd acts with a child. He is due back in court in August, per CBS News and LA Times.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
Oscar Omar Hernandez death: California 13-year-old's soccer coach arrested after teen's body found in Oxnard
LOS ANGELES - A Southern Californiasoccer coach has been arrested in connection to his 13-year-old player's death. What we know According to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, 43-year-old Mario Garcia-Aquino, of Lancaster, has been identified as the suspect in the alleged murder of Oscar Omar Hernandez. Hochman claims Garcia-Aquino killed Hernandez on March 28, which is days before Hernandez's body was found near a beach in Oxnard. The teen's death prompted investigators to speak with Garcia-Aquino, who coached Hernandez's soccer team. In the wake of Hernandez's death and Garcia-Aquino's charges, Hochman said the death penalty is on the table. "The death penalty is eligible. He is eligible under a murder with special circumstances charge for either life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. We have recently instituted a new death penalty policy, in which we will we will be evaluating whether or not the death penalty is appropriate for this particular case," the LA County DA said. Timeline Prior to Monday's announcement, Garcia-Aquino was arrested on February 20 over an unrelated child sex abuse charge. Garcia-Aquino was a travel youth soccer coach with the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club in the Sylmar area, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. Authorities found Hernandez's body on April 2, about five days after Garcia-Aquino allegedly murdered the teen. The news of Garcia-Aquino's arrest came on April 7. What we don't know Now, the DA's office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are worried Garcia-Aquino may have targeted other potential victims. Anyone with information on Hernandez's death or Garcia-Aquino is asked to call law enforcement. Officials did not specify how Hernandez died. The LA County DA's office did not say how authorities found the body.
