Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman lamented that the city’s police department did not coordinate in time to arrest an illegal immigrant now accused of murdering a teenage player on the soccer team he coached.
Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 44, was arrested on April 2 for the death of 13-year-old Oscar “Omar” Hernandez. Garcia-Aquino is also facing one felony count of assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense against another victim who was 16 at the time.
Hochman revealed on Fox News’s Fox and Friends Wednesday that the LAPD had charged Garcia-Aquino for the 2024 crime just before Hernandez disappeared but did not acquire the arrest warrant until after his alleged murder. The first allegation against this suspect, who is a youth soccer coach, initially came in 2022.
“You just got this job,” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade said. “And the speed just seems to be unacceptable. Is it a manpower issue?”
“Well, it’s all of the above. I think that the — you know, again, the LAPD that investigated the first case, you know, did not have coordination on the second case. When we brought in the coordination, all three cases came together very quickly,” Hocman said. “Under my administration, sexual violence cases are a high, high priority. And we’re making sure that any type of allegations like this come in, there is maximum cooperation from the beginning so we don’t hopefully have a tragedy like this.”
LA DA WON’T RESENTENCE MENENDEZ BROTHERS UNTIL THEY GIVE UP ‘LIE’ ABOUT PARENT’S MURDER
Hernandez’s body was found in Oxnard, Ventura County, on April 2, the day police were granted Garcia-Aquino’s arrest warrant. His parents had reported him missing on March 30.
Now, Garcia-Aquino faces the maximum sentence of death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.