West
Illegal alien youth coach could face death penalty after allegedly murdering, raping teen player
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Child sex charges continue to pile up against an illegal alien soccer coach accused of sexually attacking and murdering one of his players.
Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino, 44, an illegal immigrant “gotaway” from El Salvador, faces more child sex charges after he was charged with raping and murdering a teen boy he coached. He was also charged with sodomy and oral copulation with a minor under 16.
Garcia-Aquino, after entering the United States, established himself in the San Fernando Valley as a soccer coach. His work managing these teams made him a visitor of Whitsett Fields Park in North Hollywood, where youth soccer games are played and where Garcia-Aquino allegedly met 13-year-old Oscar Hernandez, who he allegedly sexually assaulted and then murdered.
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Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino (LAPD)
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed nine more child sex charges against Garcia-Aquino this week — eight counts of sodomy of a person under age 16 and one count of oral copulation of a minor under 16, according to an amended complaint obtained by Fox News Digital.
Garcia-Aquino reportedly pleaded not guilty to the additional charges through his attorney, according to local media reports. Fox News Digital inquired with the LA County Public Defender’s Office but did not receive a response in time for publication.
The LA County District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case against Garcia-Aquino, declined to comment further on the ongoing case.
A complaint from the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles indicates that, on March 28, Garcia-Aquino murdered 13-year-old Oscar Hernandez while sexually assaulting him. The same complaint also accuses Garcia-Aquino of a second sexual assault and rape of a child in December 2022.
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A separate case involving an alleged sexual assault by Garcia-Aquino on Feb. 22, 2024, was also reportedly added to the case later. He allegedly assaulted this minor numerous other times between September 2022 and July 2023, according to the complaint.
Now, as the charges pile up against the illegal immigrant soccer coach, he could face the death penalty.
“Thirteen-year-old Oscar ‘Omar’ Hernandez was an innocent child who was exploited and killed by this depraved illegal alien who should have never been in this country,” the Department of Homeland Security said last year.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Noem’s leadership, child predators, pedophiles and murderers will be hunted down and removed from America’s communities.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Hernandez was reportedly last seen leaving his home in Sun Valley to meet the soccer coach, according to family members, but he was later found dead along the side of a road.
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In one of the other cases, involving the sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy, Garcia-Aquino reportedly “befriended” a family through a local soccer program and the teen’s parents eventually let the teen stay the night at Garcia-Aquino’s home, officials say.
The murdered boy’s brother told CBS News that he believed Garcia-Aquino targeted families who did not have the proper legal status to live in the United States.
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The honor of introducing former President Barack Obama at the grand opening of his new presidential library in Chicago Thursday went to Dr. Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Punihei Lipe of Hawaii.
Hawaii News Now reports that Lipe participated in the inaugural cohort of the Asia-Pacific Leaders Program in 2019 and is currently the principal at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.
“Where I come from, to introduce someone means we have pilina, a connection. If this man walked into my home, my children would call him uncle because we are both keiki o ka ʻāina, children of Hawaii,” she said in her remarks.
She told those in attendance that the former president and herself are both “children of Hawaii.” Obama lived on the island and attended Punahou School and lived in Hawaii for eight years until his graduation from high school.
Lipe said being children of Hawaii carries with it a “sacred responsibility to care for those who we may never meet.”
She made reference to the resilient Hawaiian shrub, the Like a’ali’i.
“The a’ali’i thrives by being deeply rooted, resilient through storm and drought, and fiercely responsive. That is what ‘yes, we can’ means to my indigenous heart. It demands that we remain unshakably rooted in truth, resilient through trial, and so responsive that just as this plant yields its leaves for medicine, its blooms for beauty, and its timber for protection, we become the healing, the vibrance, and the shelter needed by our communities and by grandmother earth.”
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Idaho
Mountain Home neighbors kickoff Juneteenth celebrations as Idaho marks 25 years of recognition
MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho — Mountain Home neighbors are coming together this weekend to honor Juneteenth, commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
June 19 marks the day enslaved people in Galveston Bay, Texas, were freed — more than 2 years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
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Mountain Home celebrates Juneteenth with a weekend of community events
The Mountain Home Juneteenth Committee hosts an annual Juneteenth 5K to honor the holiday. Saturday’s festivities continue at noon at Carl Miller Park with food, live music, games, and more.
Committee Vice President Dylisaly Reed said this year’s event marks an important milestone. 25 years ago, efforts led by former Mountain Home Mayor Joe B. McNeal helped Idaho become one of the first states to officially observe Juneteenth — though the holiday did not become an official state and federal holiday until 2021.
“It took the help and the foresight and the running, and the legacy of Dirk Kempthorne and Joe B. McNeil, who did what they had to do in order to make this happen for us,” Reed said.
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Many neighbors said they only learned about Juneteenth a few years ago. Purvis Cowens, who attended the Mountain Home Juneteenth 5K, said awareness remains a challenge.
“We don’t talk about it in school. A lot of people of color are really not familiar with it,” Purvis Cowens said. “So it’s a good deal to get it out there and get it in the community.”
To help change that, the committee uses money raised through its events to fund 5 scholarships for local high school seniors, who write essays about what Juneteenth means to them.
Charlotte Cowens, who hosts the Mountain Home Juneteenth 5K, said understanding history is essential.
“It’s nice to know history because you got to know your history to know where you’re going. So if you don’t know where you came from, you never know where you’re going,” Charlotte Cowens said.
Reed said the scholarship has already made a meaningful impact.
“This was a young Caucasian gentleman, and he won, and he said when he did the research for his essay, he found out so many things he absolutely just never knew. And that’s all we want,” Reed said.
The committee said these events and the scholarship funds wouldn’t be possible without their sponsors, including Freer Foundation, Mountain Home Black History Committee, St. Luke’s, A Taste of Texas, and many more local businesses and churches.
To learn more about the Mountain Home Juneteenth Committee and this weekend’s events, click here.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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