Family files legal claim against city and county of LA over 13-year-old boy’s murder
By Rob Hayes
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LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The family of a 13-year-old boy from the San Fernando Valley who was murdered earlier this year has filed a legal claim against the city and county of Los Angeles.
The boy’s body was found on the side of a road in Oxnard in April after he had been reported missing.
The alleged killer, 43-year-old Mario Garcia Aquino, who was the boy’s soccer coach, has been 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.
Garcia Aquino killed Oscar on March 28 in Lancaster and dumped his body in Ventura County, prosecutors allege.
The boy’s family held a press conference Monday to discuss the claim, which states Oscar was “subjected to grooming and sexual abuse” at the hands of Garcia Aquino because “the city and county of Los Angeles failed to do a thorough background check” on the coach.
“I want justice for my little brother,” said the boy’s brother Daniel Hernandez Bautista, who held back tears as he spoke to the press.
The boy’s mother also spoke out, sending a message to her son’s alleged killer.
“I ask for justice,” she said. “May the full weight of the law fall on this monster who did so much harm to an innocent child who was unable to defend himself.”
In May, Eyewitness News learned a backlog of cases at the district attorney’s office may have led to Garcia Aquino being free rather than facing charges for two other alleged sexual assaults.
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