Star Athlete’s Death Is Ruled a Suicide
The July 10 death of a former Orange County high school basketball star was ruled a suicide, police said Tuesday.
Monique Mathews, 18, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and was found in a shop at the Los Altos Shopping Center on Bellflower Boulevard, said Sgt. Steve Filippini, spokesman for the Long Beach Police Department.
Mathews, of Aliso Viejo, attended three Orange County high schools in four years before dropping out of Capistrano Valley High in 1988. She cited the need to be with her ailing father in Georgia as the reason for leaving school. Mathews also attended Costa Mesa High for two years and University High in Irvine for a year before transferring to Capistrano Valley.
On the basketball court, Mathews averaged 17.2 points and 13.5 rebounds her senior year in 1997-98. She won honors as co-most valuable player of the South Coast League and was named All-Orange County by The Times last year.
Funeral services were Wednesday in Laguna Hills.
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