For the past year, Alejandra Hernandez and her family have been deeply mourning the tragic and sudden loss of her youngest brother, Oscar “Omar” Hernandez, the 13 year old from Sun Valley who was found dead on the side of a road in Ventura County last April.
Almost exactly one year later, Hernandez said they are feeling a small measure of relief that the case against the boy’s accused killer is finally moving forward. Last week, a judge ordered Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, who was her brother’s soccer coach and a family friend, to stand trial for his murder. He will also be tried for sex-related crimes involving two other teenage boys.
“We’re sad, but at the same time we’re glad to see the case is moving forward, because at least there will be justice for my brother and the other children who he victimized, and for all those who haven’t spoken up yet because I know there are more. But we know justice will be served,” Hernandez told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol.
Though she feels the case against Garcia-Aquino has been progressing slowly, Hernandez said she hopes that the extended time will allow additional victims of the former coach for the Huracan Valley Soccer Club, a youth travel league based in Sylmar, to choose to come forward.
“I’m certain there are more, but I understand that it’s difficult to come out and talk about this [publicly] because it’s a very sensitive issue,” added Hernandez.
Hernandez, 29, is the oldest of the three surviving siblings in her family. Omar, who was the youngest, was affectionately called nuestro niño (our boy). While her parents, two remaining brothers and other relatives will forever grieve losing Omar, she said they look forward to seeing Garcia-Aquino be convicted for his horrific crimes, especially her mother, Gladys Bautista.
“So far, my mother says she is feeling a little bit better,” she said. “We’re glad they are finally giving voice to the children he hurt, but, unfortunately, my brother had to die for that to happen.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that his death could have been avoided if we had known the kind of person [Garcia-Aquino] was,” she continued, recalling the weekend her brother went missing.
Omar had boarded a Metrolink train to meet Garcia-Aquino at his home in Lancaster for a paid job helping him make soccer jerseys. When Omar didn’t return home as planned or answer his mobile phone, they called his coach, who claimed he had driven Omar to Sun Valley and dropped him at the Metrolink station near the family’s home. The next day, he drove Hernandez and her husband across the San Fernando Valley under the guise of helping them look for Omar.
But Omar’s body was found three days later; Garcia-Aquino was arrested that same day.
“I don’t know how anyone could be capable of doing the depraved things that he did,” she said.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office opted against seeking the death penalty for Garcia-Aquino. If convicted as charged, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is also charged with a dozen other crimes involving surviving underage victims.
Dr. Christopher Young, the chief medical examiner for Ventura County, determined that Omar’s cause of death was alcohol poisoning and his manner of death was ruled a homicide. Garcia-Aquino remains in custody without bail, with a pending arraignment on April 24.