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A youth soccer coach in Southern California, who is also an undocumented immigrant, might face the death penalty following accusations of raping and murdering a young player from his team.
Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, originally from El Salvador, stands accused of additional child sex offenses. These charges come alongside the horrific allegation of raping 13-year-old Oscar “Omar” Hernandez and leaving his body abandoned by the roadside back in March 2025.
The Los Angeles District Attorney has charged Garcia-Aquino, 44, with nine new offenses. These charges are separate from the murder accusation and involve alleged sexual crimes with two other teenage boys. These incidents reportedly occurred in December 2022 and February 2024.
The latest charges include eight counts of sodomy involving a minor under 16 and one count of oral copulation involving a minor under 16, as per an amended complaint accessed by Fox News Digital. These charges pertain to one of the two surviving alleged victims.
Through his attorney, Garcia-Aquino has entered a plea of not guilty to the newly filed charges.
Aquino was working as a youth traveling soccer coach in the Sylmar area of the San Fernando Valley, where he came in contact with the young boys in different age divisions.
Hernandez was last seen alive on March 28, 2025, after leaving his Sun Valley home to meet his coach Garcia-Aquino, according to a complaint from the district attorney’s office.
Hernandez’s family reported him missing two days later after he didn’t return from his coach’s in the Lancaster/Palmdale area and stopped answering calls, The Post reported. His body was discovered days later on a remote road.
Last year, the Department of Homeland Security posted on X about the case involving the “depraved” illegal.
“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,” the DHS said.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, child predators, pedophiles, and murderers will be hunted down and removed from America’s communities.”
Aquino remains behind bars without bail, awaiting his hearing to determine if the case will proceed to trial. The hearing is scheduled to begin on March 27.