The hyperbole surrounding the news that a Los Angeles County teenager was killed by a spider bite wasn't supported by the facts, according to the county coroner's office.

The 13-year-old, it turns out, was felled by a less-sexy but no-less scary monster: a possible pimple that ended up getting infected, according to coroner's Assistant Chief Ed Winter told the Weekly.

The boy, identified in media reports as Jonathan Price, had a staph infection and pneumonia, Winter said.

“It appeared to be a pimple like thing,” Winter said. “Dirty hands, scratching it and not treating it probably wound up infecting it. It was not a spider bite.”

The Pomona teen was declared dead at a hospital Sunday, and the local police thought his demise might have been caused by a spider bite.

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