L.A. soccer coach killed teen after slipping past city’s background check, family claims
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- The family of Oscar Omar Hernandez claims Los Angeles officials did not properly screen the soccer coach accused of killing their son.
The family of a 13-year-old boy found dead in a roadside ditch this year is suing the city of Los Angeles, claiming parks department officials failed to do a proper background check on the youth soccer coach accused of sexually abusing and murdering the teen.
Oscar Daniel Hernandez and Gladys Bautista Vasquez, the parents of Oscar Omar Hernandez, known as Omar, filed a notice of claim against the city on Thursday, contending the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks exposed children to harm by granting Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino a permit to coach youth soccer teams.
“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,” read the notice, typically a precursor to a civil lawsuit.
Omar played for the Hurricane Valley Boys Soccer Club in the Sylmar area, which Garcia-Aquino coached. The family’s attorney, Michael Carrillo, said the city was negligent by failing to notify parents that Garcia-Aquino had twice faced sexual abuse allegations from players.
The boy was found dead in Ventura County in April, days after traveling to Palmdale to Garcia-Aquino’s home, where he was supposed to help his coach make soccer jerseys. Prosecutors have since accused Garcia-Aquino of killing the teen after sexually assaulting him. Omar died of alcohol poisoning, records show.
Garcia-Aquino is now awaiting trial for Omar’s murder and the prior sex abuse allegations. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Los Angeles Police Department investigated an allegation of sex abuse against Garcia-Aquino in late 2022, officials previously told The Times, but a criminal case was never filed because the victim would not cooperate with law enforcement. A second player accused Garcia-Aquino of abuse in 2024, prompting a Sheriff’s Department investigation.
But the L.A. County district attorney’s office took more than 10 months to file charges, a previous Times investigation showed, raising questions about whether prosecutors missed a chance to arrest the coach before Omar’s death.
Prosecutors attributed the delay in filing to a backlog of more than 10,000 cases. That number is now below 5,000 cases, according to Josh Rubenstein, communications director for the district attorney’s office, who said there are no longer any sex abuse cases awaiting review.
“We would expect for the LAPD to inform the city that they work for that, ‘Hey, maybe this guy should be on the do not permit list,’” said Carrillo, the attorney. “That would be a very rational reasonable approach. Anything to prevent this man from being around kids.”
Garcia-Aquino is undocumented, and news of his arrest also previously drew a furious response from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which called him a “depraved illegal alien who should have never been in this country,” in a post on X this year. Carrillo, however, said that it would be “wrong” to blame the murder on immigration policies and that the family’s frustration lies with city and county officials.
A spokesman for the city attorney’s office said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. Calls and emails to the Department of Recreation and Parks were not returned. Carrillo said he did not know when Garcia-Aquino’s coaching permit was last renewed.
Garcia-Aquino is due back in court next month.
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