Illegal immigrant LA youth soccer coach charged with rape, murder of 13-year-old player—could face death penalty

According to court documents, 44-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino from El Salvador, who entered the United States illegally as a "gotaway," was a youth soccer coach in the San Fernando Valley, including with the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club. One of the frequent playfields was Whitsett Fields Park in North Hollywood, where he allegedly met 13-year-old Oscar "Omar" Hernandez. On March 28, 2025, Garcia-Aquino was accused of sexually assaulting and murdering Hernandez at his home in Lancaster. The 13-year-old had left his home in Sun Valley to meet the coach but never came back. His body was found dumped along a roadside in Ventura County, near Oxnard.

Garcia-Aquino was charged with one count of murder, including a special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission or attempted commission of lewd acts with a child, making him eligible for the death penalty or life without parole. Garcia-Aquino is also charged in multiple cases involving sexual abuse of minors, including allegedly sexually assaulting a teenager at his home in December 2022, assaulting a 16-year-old boy in February 2024, and the ongoing abuse of another minor between September 2022 and July 2023.

Fox News reported that this month, the LA County District Attorney's Office filed nine additional charges, including eight counts of sodomy with a person under 16 and one count of oral copulation with a minor under 16. Garcia-Aquino pleaded not guilty to the new charges. In one incident involving a 14-year-old boy, Garcia-Aquino allegedly befriended the family through soccer programs, eventually becoming close with them, and the parents allowed the teen to stay overnight at his home. The murdered boy's brother previously told the media that Garcia-Aquino targeted families who lacked legal status in the US.

Garcia-Aquino remains in custody without bail. A preliminary hearing in the Los Angeles Superior Court is expected to determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial. The US Department of Homeland Security called Hernandez "an innocent child who was exploited and killed by this depraved illegal alien who should have never been in this country."