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Student Flees Practice, Jumps to Death Off Hotel Balcony
14-year-old Matthew Mezza, a Freshman at Santa Monica High School, committed suicide on Friday afternoon in a series of events that have left students, teachers, family and friends horrified and saddened and confused, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. Mezza attended baseball practice on Friday afternoon and "abruptly fled" from practice to run across the street, enter the Sheraton Delfina hotel and jump from a 10th floor ballroom balcony. Witnesses said Mezza yelled that he planned to jump off a building as he was running away and they tried to chase him down, but to no avail. School officials and friends saw no warning signs and say nothing in his behavior had recently changed before Friday's events. Santa Monica High School students are receiving counseling and an investigation is ongoing.
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