Brianne Matthews Ligature Hanging?

16 year old Softball Star, Nadia Brianne Matthews, of Mater Dei High School committed suicide by hanging herself. Matthews was considered among the best of the nations softball players and had a full scholarship to the University of Arizona.

Brianne Matthews took her own life by hanging herself in her Anaheim, California, home on February 25, and it baffled everyone around her... even her mother, Nadia Martinez. That's because Matthews excelled at everything she did.

Police say Brianne Matthews died of Ligature Hanging strangulation, what does that mean? Never heard about the term Ligature Hanging before.

Why did Brianne Matthews commit suicide? Was Brianne Matthews depressed? What did her mother Nadia Martinez say about her daughter?

Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. Scientifically, the person dies by strangulation. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", although it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain "hanging".

Brianne Matthews, 15, spoke to her mother, Nadia Martinez about life after death before ending her life in February of 2010.

Her mother talks about how odd it was when Brianne had talked about how she would like to be remembered if it happened.

“She wanted her ashes to be sprinkled all over a softball field because that's where she lived. It didn't matter where. As long as it was a softball field with a mound. That's where she dominated." her mother said.

At 16, Matthews was a star softball pitcher who was set to have her pick of colleges on a full ride scholarship. She was carrying a 4.0 in school and was popular with her peers. But something was wrong. Nadia Martinez doesn't even want to think about what that might have been.

Nadia Brianne Matthews was pronounced dead at UC Irvine Medical in Orange Thursday night.

Matthews, an Anaheim resident, died at 8:22 p.m. at UCI Medical Center in Orange. The coroner's office will do an autopsy to determine the cause of death, and the results should be released early Friday afternoon, according to supervising deputy coroner Daniel Aikin.

CPR was administered to Matthews, who was then transported to the hospital where she was pronounced dead, Martinez added. Anaheim police are conducting a death investigation but do not not suspect foul play.