Friends and family spent Friday evening in Cashmere to remember a teenager believed to have killed himself because he was bullied in school for being gay.

Rafael Morelos, 14, took his own life this week and his friends gathered to grieve, but couldn’t understand why this happened.

“Even though he’s not here to hug or smile at us anymore, he’s still in our hearts,” a friend of Morelos said. 

KIRO 7’s Gary Horcher spoke with Morelos’ mother, Malinda Morelos, and immediately after Morelos’ death, school friends told her he was being bullied. They also told Malinda he stood up for himself when bullies tried to publicly humiliate him.

“They made it very clear to him, but he also made it very clear to them that he was gay and he was proud of who he was,” said Malinda.

The Cashmere School District sent KIRO 7 a statement Friday afternoon that said they were deeply saddened by the loss and their thoughts and prayers were with Morelos’ family. The statement had also invited the community to participate in a remembrance program. 

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Morelos’ family and friends want the school to take action and make changes to protect victims of harassment. 

Malinda was not invited to the program but demands changes in the school’s policy. Now, she is trying to raise $4,000 for her son’s funeral.

“There needs to be some kind of protection to protect these kids against these bullies that are doing this to these kids,” Malinda said.