The 13-year-old who died in a ditch earlier this week was last seen with a soccer coach. Authorities are investigating him regarding another sexual assault case, according to police.
Omar Hernandez had been missing for four days, as stated by the Los Angeles police.
The cause of Hernandez’s death remains unclear, but the boy’s mourning family has pointed fingers at the soccer coach, claiming he was with him on Saturday.
On that day, the coach answered Hernandez’s phone right before his brother Jose was about to call him, notifying the family that the teenagers were unavailable, Fox 11 reported.
The coach reportedly informed Hernandez’s father that he had taken the boy from “near” the family residence and advised them to notify police.
“We had that individual in our home,” his sister Alejandra shared with Fox11 via a translator.
“He assisted us in the search for Oscars.”
Reports have identified the coach as 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia Aquino – who was arrested by Los Angeles police on Wednesday due to an unrelated warrant involving a sexual assault case investigated by the LA County Sheriff's Office last year.
The suspicious incident occurred and was initially looked into in February 2024, but police were unwilling to pursue criminal charges for undisclosed reasons.
Garcia Aquino is currently charged with attempting to commit another felony assault. Prosecutors claim it involved an attempt at rape, sodomy, or oral copulation of a man.
He is being held in custody on a $100,000 bail.
Information about Garcia Aquino’s attorney was not immediately accessible.
Garcia Aquino has not yet been officially named a suspect in Hernandez’s death, and the results of the teen’s autopsy are awaited.
In the meantime, a vigil was held on Thursday at the site where Hernandez’s body was discovered.
The teenager moved with his family from Honduras to California three years ago in search of a better future, and he had a deep love for soccer.
