Additional charges filed against youth soccer coach accused of murdering 13-year-old boy

LOS ANGELES - Additional criminal charges have been filed against a youth soccer coach who was charged with murdering a 13-year-old boy and sex-related crimes involving two teenage boys.

What we know:

Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, who is charged with the March 28, 2025, murder of Oscar "Omar" Hernandez, pleaded not guilty through his attorney to eight new counts of sodomy of a person under 16 and one new count of oral copulation of a person under 16 involving one of the two surviving alleged victims.

Garcia-Aquino, now 44, remains jailed without bail while awaiting what is expected to be a four-day hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to allow the case against him to proceed to trial.

The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission or attempted commission of a lewd act with a child.

Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Garcia-Aquino.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Oscar Hernandez: Cause of death for 13-year-old allegedly killed by soccer coach revealed
• Oscar Hernandez: Family of teen allegedly killed by soccer coach files legal claim against city, LA County

Sexual assault charges 

Dig deeper:

He was also initially charged with one count each of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense and lewd act on a child 14 or 15 years old involving a different teenage boy who was allegedly sexually assaulted on Dec. 10, 2022, at a home in Sylmar where the defendant was living at the time.

He was charged separately, in a case that has since been combined with the murder case, with a felony count of assault with the intent to commit a lewd act involving a 16-year-old boy in Palmdale on Feb. 22, 2024. 

One of the assault charges involves a teen whose family was "befriended" by Garcia-Aquino and allowed their son to stay with him at his Palmdale residence, according to the sheriff.

The family subsequently notified the sheriff's Palmdale station about the alleged abuse, Luna said.

The nine latest counts involve alleged crimes between September 2022 and July 2023 involving that alleged victim.

Boy found dead

Hernandez, who had traveled to Lancaster to see his soccer coach last March 28, was reported missing two days later and found dead in Oxnard, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said last year.

His body was discovered April 2, 2025 by the side of a road in Oxnard, but authorities have not announced how the boy was killed.

Who is Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino?

Garcia-Aquino was a youth travel soccer coach with the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club, working with different age divisions in the Sylmar area and had no reported criminal history, according to Sheriff Robert Luna. 

In a statement posted on X, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said, "13-year-old Oscar `Omar' Hernandez was an innocent child who was exploited and killed by this depraved illegal alien who should have never been in this country."