“He told me he got shoved and punched in the face in PE in the locker room at Cashmere,” said Lexii Mullin of Wenatchee, a friend of Rafael Morelos.
“He was tired of people saying that his little brothers would follow in his footsteps and be gay too,” said Maranda Blankenship of Wenatchee.
Lexi said someone created a fake Facebook page so he or she could talk to Rafael rudely.
Rob Cline, principal at Cashmere Middle School, said by phone on Friday that there was no ongoing investigation into Rafael being bullied at the school. He said that Rafael had, earlier in the school year, reported one incidence of being bullied but “we took care of that. We investigated and took appropriate action.”
Cline declined to say what action the district took, or when during the school year Rafael complained to the school about being bullied.
Rafael’s mother, Malinda Morelos, said during an interview Thursday afternoon that she did not hear that her son was bullied until a candlelight vigil Tuesday near their home on Eels Road in Cashmere.
“Almost all the kids here told me he was being bullied,” she said. “There were at least 100 people at the vigil.”
She said her son kept his feelings to himself and “he pretended everything was OK.” She said she has known her son was gay for several years.
She said Rafael left a short note before he died that said, ‘Sawwy, guys, but I love you guys.”
At the vigil, Malinda said her son, “sometimes acted strong but, inside, he was dying little by little.”
Janis Hayden, the mother of a Cashmere student, said an account has been set up at Cashmere Valley Bank so people can donate to help the family defray costs associated with Rafael’s death.
Dee Riggs: 664-7147
