13-year-old killed by soccer coach with history of abuse was groomed, CA claim says
A 13-year-old boy was groomed, sexually abused and killed by his soccer coach who had been cleared to run a boys soccer club in Los Angeles despite having a history of sexually abusing other teenage boys, according to attorneys for the teen’s family.
The family of Oscar Omar Hernandez filed two claims for damages, which comes before a lawsuit, against the city and county of Los Angeles, in which they blame officials for a “careless” background check on Mario Garcia-Aquino, who is charged with murder in Oscar’s death.
“I ask for justice,” Oscar’s mother said at a Sept. 15 news conference, KABC reported. “May the full weight of the law fall on this monster who did so much harm to an innocent child who was unable to defend himself.”
Oscar’s family reported him missing on March 28 after he took a train to visit Garcia-Aquino in Lancaster, about a 70-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles, and “wasn’t heard from again,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said on April 7.
Garcia-Aquino is accused of killing Oscar and dumping his body on the side of a road in Oxnard in Ventura County, which borders Los Angeles County, according to authorities.
His body was found on April 2, according to the family’s claim.
Before Oscar’s death, the claim says Garcia-Aquino, who ran the “Huracan Valley Boys Soccer Club,” was accused of sexually abusing another soccer player in December 2022. Though police investigated, Garcia-Aquino was not charged, according to the claim.
Then a second teenage boy reported Garcia-Aquino had sexually abused him in 2024, the claim says.
“However, it took approximately 10 months after this report” for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office to charge Garcia-Aquino, attorney Luis A. Carrillo, of the Carrillo Law Firm, wrote in the claim.
Garcia-Aquino now faces charges in connection with the two previous cases of sexual abuse, according to the district attorney’s office. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges, as well as to the murder charge in Oscar’s death, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Attorney information for Garcia-Aquino was not immediately available.
Oscar’s family argues city and county officials negligently allowed Garcia-Aquino to operate his boys soccer club, which he owned, in city parks, failing to protect Oscar and other soccer players as a result.
The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office declined McClatchy News’ request for comment Sept. 16, as the office does not comment on pending litigation.
The Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department communications team also declined to comment on the litigation. In a statement shared with McClatchy News, the department said:
“Our thoughts and hearts are with the family who is mourning the loss of their son.”
Oscar first met Garcia-Aquino in a city park, then played on Garcia-Aquino’s team in different city parks at least once or twice a week, according to the legal claim.
“The City of Los Angeles, through its permit application and approval process, knew or should have known that Mario Garcia-Aquino would be using city parks solely to ‘groom’ and sexually abuse children on a daily or weekly basis under the guise of a boys’ soccer club,” the claim says.
When Oscar visited Garcia-Aquino in March, he went to help him make soccer jerseys, as other soccer players had done, Oscar’s sister Alejandra Hernandez previously told KCAL News.
Oscar died of alcohol poisoning, according to the Ventura County Medical Examiner, which declared his death a homicide, KCAL News reported.
Garcia-Aquino has lived in the U.S. illegally, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security previously said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Though he is undocumented, attorney Michael Carrillo, who also represents Oscar’s family, said Oscar’s relatives ultimately fault city and county officials, according to the newspaper.
“The City of Los Angeles gave Mario Garcia-Aquino unfettered access to children, where he was able to continue to engage in his sexual abuse, including lewd and laviscious acts, on minors including Oscar Omar Hernandez,” the claim against the city says.
“The staff and administrators at County of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks also owed a duty of trust to the public, including parents of minor children, under the law to ensure that any coach entrusted with minors at community parks was acting in conformity with the law and was not using their position of power to groom and molest children,” reads the claim against the county.
Garcia-Aquino is eligible for the death penalty, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, as the murder charge against him comes with the allegation that he killed Oscar “during the commission or attempted commission of lewd acts with a child.”
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