Boy Found Dead Near O.C. School
A 15-year-old boy who spent the night at a friend’s house after a Halloween party was found dead early Thursday outside a Tustin-area middle school.
Orange County sheriff’s officials said no signs of foul play were discovered on or near the body of Sean Lewis Wellins, a sophomore at nearby Foothill High School.
An autopsy was completed Thursday, but the cause of death had yet to be determined, officials said.
“Unfortunately, the parents’ worst nightmare came true,” sheriff’s spokesman Jim Amormino said.
He said the death didn’t appear to be a suicide and the only mark on Wellins was a small facial scratch.
A school cafeteria worker found Wellins face down at 6:30 a.m. near a fence at Hewes Middle School on Hewes Avenue south of Fairhaven Avenue.
Counselors and a psychologist were being made available to students at the two schools, but classes were not disrupted, said Mark Eliot, a spokesman for the Tustin Unified School District. Eliot said Wellins was a good student who had no disciplinary problems.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
