NEWS UPDATE • Sylmar Soccer Coach Faces Possible Death Sentence

Police Are Asking For Other Possible Victims to Come Forward

 

This afternoon LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced a murder charge with special circumstances against 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino in the disappearance and death of Oscar Omar Hernandez, the 13-year-old boy who was found dead in a Ventura County ditch last week. Garcia Aquino was the boy's soccer coach. He was a youth travel soccer coach with a Hurricane Valley boys soccer club in the Sylmar area, working with different age divisions.

Oscar's parents and sister stood next to Hochman during the announcement.

Oscar's older brother Daniel Hernandez Jr. told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol that he "wants to see justice" and he's glad that the authorities "are on the right path" to make that happen. He said he hopes that "anyone else who was hurt by him will come forward."

 

 

The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission or attempted commission of lewd acts with a child, making Garcia-Aguino eligible for a potential death sentence.

The 13-year-old boy -- who had traveled March 28 to Lancaster to see his soccer coach who told him he would pay him if he would help him with a project for the team -- was reported missing two days later and found dead last Wednesday.

Garcia-Aquino is also charged in a separate 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, Hochman said. He could face up to six years in state prison if convicted in that case.