What to Know
- The body of 13-year-old Oscar Omar Hernandez was found off the side of a road in Oxnard days after the San Fernando Valley boy was reported missing.
- Hernandez's family reported him missing March 30 after he failed to answer calls or return from a visit with his soccer coach in the Lancaster/Palmdale area.
- LA County prosecutors filed a murder charge with special circumstances Monday against 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino.
Prosecutors in Los Angeles filed a murder charge with special circumstances Monday in the disappearance and death of Oscar Omar Hernandez, the 13-year-old boy who vanished after visiting a soccer coach in the Antelope Valley last month.
That coach, identified by Hernandez's family as Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino, was arrested last week by LAPD detectives investigating the teen's disappearance, although he was booked on an unrelated assault charge from last year.
Garcia Aquino, 43, had been expected to make an initial appearance on that assault case in court in Lancaster Monday, but deputies said he wasn't brought to court for medical reasons.
The case filed Monday charged Garcia Aquino with a single count of first degree murder, with the special circumstance allegation that the murder happened during the commission of another violent felony, such as a robbery or rape.
LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman, LA County Sheriff Robert Luna, and LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell were scheduled to formally announce the charges at a news conference.
The other assault charge accused Garcia Aquino of assaulting a man with the intent to commit rape in February 2024 and alleged that Garcia Aquino "took advantage of a position of trust and confidence" in carrying out the attack.
Ventura officials confirmed Friday that the body found in a ditch in Oxnard earlier this week was that of Oscar Omar Hernandez. Investigative Reporter Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 4, 2025.
Several law enforcement sources told NBC LA the investigation into the death had been handed over to the LA County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau because it was believed Hernandez was killed in the Antelope Valley, an area patrolled by the Sheriff's Department.
Hernandez's family reported him missing on Sunday, March 30, after he didn't return from a visit with the coach in the Lancaster/Palmdale area and didn't answer calls.
The boy's body was found last week off a road in Oxnard.
The missing persons case was investigated by the LAPD with assistance from FBI agents.
The LA County District Attorney's Office did not respond to questions last week about why a criminal charge in the 2024 assault case wasn't filed before the Hernandez investigation focused on Garcia Aquino.
The law enforcement sources said they believed there were other victims who'd been attacked by Garcia Aquino.
