Autopsy Pending in Death of Prep Football Player
An autopsy is pending in the case of a high school football player who died after he collapsed Friday night on the sidelines.
Grief counselors are at Hollywood High School Monday after the death of 13-year-old freshman Spencer Juarez. He had just carried the football during a game Friday when he returned to the sidelines and collapsed.
Paramedics took Juarez to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. He was pronounced dead at about 3 p.m. Saturday.
An autopsy to determine the cause of death is pending.
Grief counselor Holly Priebe-Diaz told reporters at the school that students "are in shock, are in disbelief, can't quite make sense of what's going on today."
"This young man was quite popular with the students and so it's helping to bring normalcy back into the school," Priebe-Diaz said. "... The students are trying to make sense of how can someone so young who's so close to their age also pass away."
Friends and a coach described Juarez as a dedicated athlete who ran marathons and did well in school. A marathon trainer described him as the kind of teen you want to follow because "he's going to do amazing things."
