BREAKING NEWS Cause of death revealed for soccer player, 13, found dead on roadside after his coach was arrested on murder charge
A 13-year-old soccer player found dead at the side of a road in a Los Angeles suburb passed away from acute alcohol poisoning, according to a new medical report.
Oscar Omar Hernandez was found in the seaside town of Oxnard after going missing on March 30, and his coach Mario Garcia-Aquino, 43, was arrested and charged with one count of murder soon after.
Separately, Garcia-Aquino was also charged with a felony count of assault with intent to commit a lewd act against a 16-year-old boy in February of 2024.
At the time, no further details were known on the Hernandez's cause of death, but Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office have now revealed that he had alcohol poisoning.
Hernandez was reported missing by family on March 30 after he 'failed to return home from visiting an acquaintance in Lancaster,' according to police.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said Hernandez had boarded a Metrolink train to visit his soccer coach, 43-year-old Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino.
Oscar's body was discovered on the side of the road in Oxnard near Leo Carrillo State Beach, Hochman said.
'These cases are tragic, and the Hernandez family, you have our deepest sympathy for a loss that words cannot even begin to describe,' Hochman said at a press release.
'Our role, though, is to bring justice to this family and to hold the person responsible for these brutal, heinous, unspeakable, unthinkable acts, hold them accountable and prosecute and punish them to the full extent of the law.'
Garcia-Aquino could face the death penalty or life behind bars without the possibility of parole if convicted on the murder charge in addition to a potential six years in prison for the alleged assault.
After the arrest in April, police were asking anyone with knowledge about the case to come forward.
'There's always a fear that there's more victims, and we want to make sure we account for everybody that's out there,' Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said Monday.
Luna stressed that immigration status will not be addressed by police for any forthcoming witness.
'If for some reason anybody fears coming forward, even as a youth or a family, because you may be here undocumented, we're not going to ask about that,' Luna said. 'Please. You need to come forward.
'We will assist you – whether it's our department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the LA County District Attorney's Office – any of us are going to wrap our arms around you and make sure that you get the appropriate services.
'We guide you the right way and we protect you as well.'
Garcia-Aquino, a youth soccer coach in the Sylmar area, has no criminal record, according to Luna.
Oscar's family did not address media at a press briefing, but his mother, Gladys, was heard crying out in Spanish: 'He didn't need to be treated like an animal. That was my son.'
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