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In a sad turn of events, former Boston Legalstar, Justin Mentell, has passed away in a fatal car accident.  He was 27 years old.

According to E! Online, Mentell was driving alone in his Jeep without a seat-belt when he careened off a steep embankment in Wisconsin around 3 A.M.  His Jeep crashed into two trees and Mentell was thrown from the vehicle.  The accident wasn’t reported until 8:30 A.M. when someone spotted the wreckage.  Mentell was pronounced dead at the scene.

Justin Mentell was born December of 1982 in Austin, TX, but was raised in Waukegan, IL by his mother (Waukegan is a small town outside of Chicago).  Before acting, Wentell was a talented speed skater, placing fourth in the national championships in 2000.  He then attended Northern Illinois University where he majored in fine arts.  Wentell started his career in movies with the movie Gotham, IL, but it wasn’t until he started on the brand new (at the time) show Boston Legal that he really made a name for himself working alongside William Shatner.  He stayed with the show for one season (from 2005 to 2006) then went back to movies.  He was recently in the Disney hit G-Force, a story about a special force comprised of guinea pigs.  Mentell had recently visited his friend James Zahn who claimed Mentell was getting back to his roots.  “He was just at my house about four days ago. He had moved back to Waukegan and was focusing on his art and his music,” Zahn said.

Mentell’s funeral is expected to take place in his home state with his friends and family.