Teacher’s death deemed suicide 

June 28, 2024

Juan Carlos Lozano

By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor

HART — The death of 33-year-old teacher Juan Carlos Lozano of New Era has been determined to be a suicide, said Oceana County Sheriff Craig Mast.

“It’s been deemed on his death certificate and through our investigation as self-inflicted,” said Sheriff Mast. “We have no evidence to the contrary.”

The Oceana County Sheriff’s Office initially investigated Lozano’s death as “suspicious.” 

Lozano was found dead on private property in the 5800 block of West Taylor Road in Mears, May 1, after Mason-Oceana 911 received a call asking for help. His injuries were consistent with a gunshot wound. “A handgun was recovered at the scene,” said Mast. 

Lozano, who was a seventh grade math teacher at Godfrey-Lee Public Schools in Wyoming, Michigan, grew up in Shelby and was a 2009 graduate of Shelby High School. He worked as a substitute teacher in Oceana County before working in Wyoming. In 2015, he was named Michigan student teacher of the year.

Editor’s Note: It is typically the practice of OCP to only report on suicides when there is a public element to the tragedy. Examples would include suicides that occur in public (on public property or on property that is frequented by the public), or may have involved putting others in danger. In this particular case, the suicide occurred on private property, but the sheriff’s office initially reported it, in a press release, as “suspicious.” We have a professional duty to follow-up on stories that we report on and we believe it was appropriate to report on the cause of Mr. Lozano’s death. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends. 

__________________________

Support Local News

Receive daily MCP and OCP news briefings along with email news alerts for $10 a month. 

The easiest way is to sign up for an automatic monthly payment on Paypal. Click this link.

Alternative methods:

  • We can send you an invoice each month, which you can conveniently pay online or by check. If you are interested in this method, please email editor@mediagroup31.com and we can sign you up. You can also mail a yearly check for $120 to Media Group 31, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454.
  • We also accept Venmo payments.

We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.

If you would like to support MCP/OCP but do not wish to receive daily emails, please consider sending a contribution to any of the above methods or pay by Venmo (@masoncountypress).  We appreciate all our readers regardless of whether they choose to continue to access our service for free or with a monthly financial support.

_____

This story and original photography are copyrighted © 2024, all rights reserved by Media Group 31, LLC, PO Box 21, Scottville, MI 49454. No portion of this story or images may be reproduced in any way, including print or broadcast, without expressed written consent.

As the services of Media Group 31, LLC are news services, the information posted within the sites are archivable for public record and historical posterity. For this reason it is the policy and practice of this company to not delete postings. It is the editor’s discretion to update or edit a story when/if new information becomes available. This may be done by editing the posted story or posting a new “follow-up” story. Media Group 31, LLC or any of its agents have the right to make any changes to this policy. Refer to Use Policy for more information.

Please consider helping to fund local news. Mason County Press and Oceana County Press are available for free thanks to the generous support of our advertisers and individuals. Three ways to help us: Venmo: @MasonCountyPress; Paypal: MasonCountyPress@gmail.com; Mail a check to PO BOX 21, Scottville, MI 49454.

fb.com/stars

 

Eats & Drinks

Eats & Drinks

Area Churches