A youth soccer coach accused of killing a 13-year-old boy and dumping his body in Oxnard pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges in a Los Angeles County Superior Court hearing on June 18.
Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino faces allegations that he killed Oscar “Omar” Hernandez, a San Fernando Valley teen whose body was found April 2 by the side of a road in Oxnard.
The man’s arraignment was held at the Clara Shortridge Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles. Garcia-Aquino pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, according to Pamela Johnson, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Hernandez took a train from his home to Lancaster on March 28 to visit Garcia-Aquino, a coach for a San Fernando Valley youth soccer club. The teen was reported missing two days later, law enforcement officials said.
Prosecutors charged the coach with Hernandez’s murder and tacked on a special allegation that he killed the boy while engaged in the commission of the crime of a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under 14. If found guilty, he faces penalties as high as death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman’s office said in an April statement that prosecutors will decide at a later date whether to pursue the death penalty.
Prosecutors also levied a pair of charges against the soccer coach for a separate Los Angeles County case dating to December 2022, alleging that he assaulted a different 14-year-old with intent to commit a felony and committed a lewd act upon the boy. Garcia-Aquino could see two to six years in state prison for the first charge and between one and three years for the second if convicted, according to court records.
The case is slated for an Aug. 18 preliminary hearing in Dept. 107 of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center, Johnson said.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said during an April 7 news conference that by the time of Hernandez’s disappearance detectives had already spent months investigating separate sex abuse allegations against Garcia-Aquino from a February 2024 incident. Luna said the man had no prior criminal history.
Prosecutors announced April 7 that they were charging Garcia-Aquino over the February 2024 report but ultimately did not. Instead, they later amended the criminal filing to the charges connected with Hernandez’s death and the alleged December 2022 incident.
Authorities said in the news conference said they believe Garcia-Aquino could have more victims. Other victims or individuals with more information can call the Los Angeles Police Department’s abused child unit at 818-374-5415 or the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Special Victims Bureau at 877-710-5273.
Anonymous tips can be called in at 800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.
Isaiah Murtaugh covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahembee.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Soccer coach pleads not guilty in death of teen found in Oxnard
Reporting by Isaiah Murtaugh, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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