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A soccer coach has been charged with murder after a 13-year-old on his
team was reported missing by his family and later found dead, officials announced on Monday.

Oscar Omar Hernandez, of the San Fernando Valley, was reported missing by
his family on March 30 after he "failed to return home from visiting an acquaintance in Lancaster," Los Angeles police said last week.

The teen had gone to visit his soccer coach -- 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino -- two days earlier, according to Los Angeles County
District Attorney Nathan Hochman.

Oscar was found dead on Wednesday in the city of Oxnard, west of Los
Angeles, off to the side of a road near Leo Carrillo State Beach, Hochman
said.

Garcia-Aquino was charged with murder with special circumstances on
Monday, Hochman said.

The suspect has separately also been charged with a felony count of
assault with intent to commit a lewd act against a 16-year-old boy,
Hochman said. Garcia-Aquino was arrested on Wednesday on that charge,
which stemmed from an alleged incident in Palmdale on Feb. 22, 2024, authorities said.

"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 at a press briefing on Monday. "Our role, though, is to bring justice
to this family and to hold the person responsible for these brutal,
heinous, unspeakable, unthinkable acts, hold them accountable and
prosecute and punish them to the full extent of the law."

https://i.abcnewsfe.com/a/07821e87-fa7a-4dde-b6bd- fa9f2c421dfc/suspect_1744071487158_hpEmbed_25x16.jpg?w=750

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office displays a bulletin featuring
photos of Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino during a press briefing, April 7,
2025.

Hochman said he does not have any details on how Oscar was killed at this
time.

Garcia-Aquino is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, Hochman said.

If convicted, the suspect faces a sentence of at least life without the possibility of parole for the murder charge or the death penalty, Hochman
said. He also faces six years in prison if convicted of the assault
charge, Hochman said.

Authorities are asking any alleged victims of the suspect or anyone with information to come forward.

"There's always a fear that there's more victims, and we want to make sure
we account for everybody that's out there," Los Angeles County Sheriff
Robert Luna said at the briefing.

Garcia-Aquina was a youth travel soccer coach with a boys' soccer club in
the Sylmar area, according to Luna. He had no reported criminal history,
the sheriff said.

"If for some reason anybody fears coming forward, even as a youth or a
family, because you may be here undocumented, we're not going to ask about that," Luna said. "Please. You need to come forward. We will assist you -- whether it's our department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the LA
County District Attorney's Office -- any of us are going to wrap our arms around you and make sure that you get the appropriate services. We guide
you the right way and we protect you as well."

Oscar's family members attended the press briefing but did not make a
public comment.

Family and friends of Oscar paid tribute to the teen on Thursday at the
site where the body was found on the side of a road in Oxnard.

"He didn't need to be treated like an animal. That was my son," his
mother, Gladys Bautista, cried out in Spanish, ABC News' Los Angeles
station KABC reported.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/soccer-coach-charged-murder-los- angeles/story?id=120579607

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