|
Los Angeles County prosecutors said Monday that the boy was
reported missing by his family March 30 after he boarded a train
to visit the coach in Lancaster, north of Los Angeles. He wasn’t
heard from again. His body was found several days later in
Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles.
“No parent should ever have to endure the unimaginable pain and
sorrow of learning their child has been murdered,” Los Angeles
County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in a statement.
"Sexual predators ... will be held accountable and prosecuted to
the fullest extent of the law.”
Prosecutors said Mario Edgardo Garcia-Aquino was charged with
one count of murder, with the special circumstance allegation of
murder during the commission or attempted commission of lewd
acts with a child. The charges make him eligible for the death
penalty.
Prosecutors said Garcia-Aquino is accused of killing the teen,
Oscar Omar Hernandez, and then dumping his body along the
roadside.
Garcia-Aquino faces a possible maximum sentence of death or life
in prison without the possibility of parole. A decision on
whether to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date,
prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Garcia-Aquino is accused in a separate case of
sexually assaulting a 16-year-old male in Palmdale, north of Los
Angeles, in February.
Multiple media outlets reported that Garcia-Aquino entered the
country illegally. The Department of Homeland Security and U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond
to questions about his immigration status.
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in Los Angeles told NBC Los Angeles,
“This was an avoidable crime and the result of failed border
policies.”
“We cannot and will not tolerate illegal aliens who flout our
nation’s immigration laws then prey on children. Federal law
enforcement will continue to be very aggressive in locating,
apprehending, and prosecuting criminal illegal aliens,” Essayli
said.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
