Former Temescal Canyon High School Student Commits Suicide On I-5 Freeway

A man killed Monday evening after throwing himself into I-5 traffic has been identified as Mission Viejo resident Darius Porter, 21.

Last year, Porter played small forward for Irvine Valley College's Lasers basketball team, where he was listed as a freshman. Before that he attended Temescal Canyon High School in Lake Elsinore.

Porter's apparent suicide came during rush hour traffic in Orange County. Around 6:30 p.m. Monday, he first tried to jump in front of a moving vehicle on Marguerite Parkway, according to a report from the California Highway Patrol. After that collision failed to kill him, Porter ran into northbound traffic on I-5, just north of Avery Parkway, in Mission Viejo.

"The man then intentionally hurled his body into the path of oncoming traffic and was struck several times" before CHP could arrive to stop traffic, the CHP report stated.

The initial car that struck Porter did not stop and was described only as a white sedan. 

A Patch reader who was driving along that stretch of highway before officers arrived described the resulting scene as "horrifying."

Patch reader Kenneth Bennett provided this report:

My son and I were driving behind the car on Marguerite Parkway that the pedestrian first hurled himself into, and being in the front passenger seat, I witnessed the whole horrifying scene in what seemed like slow motion.

We pulled over and I got out and unsuccessfully tried to convince the man to stay put while I spoke with 911. Incredibly, the man managed to get up and strangely asked me "Where's my cell phone?" 

I dared not touch him, because I did not know how badly he was hurt, if he was high on drugs, or what other freakish act he might do. After collecting himself for some moments and tearing off his shirt, he looked at me with wild eyes and said something like "Dude, let's do this."

Then he ran off.

I tried following him, because with such a massive injury to his head, I did not think he could go very far. However, I lost track of him as he sprinted into the Burlington Coat Factory parking lot, so I returned to assist the poor young driver who was in the car the pedestrian struck, and to wait for emergency response to arrive. 

Awhile later I learned from law enforcement that the man had made his way over to the Interstate 5 north and threw himself into oncoming traffic there to end his life.

The Orange County Coroner's office used fingerprints to identify Porter.
According to the online sports website Max Preps, Porter was a 6'5" forward for the Temescal Canyon Titans basketball team during his senior year, 2009-10, and also served as team captain.

He donned #34 as a Titan and was ranked 496 in the state, according to the website. --Peter Schelden