Suicide Suspected in Christmas Eve Roadway Death

The roadway death of a young man on Christmas Eve near Lake Skinner may have been a suicide, according to the California Highway Patrol Temecula-area office.

The victim, 18-year-old Antonio Mateo-Juan, of Hemet was pronounced deceased at 11:44 p.m. Dec. 24 after he was struck by a sedan at the intersection of Borel Road and Ashfield Lane, the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office reported.

CHP was dispatched to the scene at 11:28 p.m. Tuesday when a caller reported a collision involving a car and a pedestrian on the two-lane roadway in an unincorporated area just outside Murrieta and Temecula, according to a news release obtained Thursday.

The investigating CHP officer determined that the 60-year-old male driver of a 1992 Mercedes was traveling southbound on Borel at approximately 55 mph when he saw a person lying across the roadway just ahead of him.

The driver, a Temecula man, did not have enough time to avoid hitting the person, which resulted in multiple blunt force traumatic injuries to the victim as he was struck by the front of the Mercedes.

“Physical evidence and witness statement suggest the actions of the pedestrian were deliberate,” wrote the investigating CHP officer. “The incident is being investigated as a suicide.”

On Thursday, coroner’s officials identified the victim as Mateo-Juan.