Joel Morales, 12-year-old NYC boy, commits suicide after bullying, family says

(CBS) - A 12-year-old Harlem boy was driven to suicide by bullies who taunted him about his height and intelligence, says the boy's family.

Joel Morales' mother says she found him hanging from a shower rod in the bathroom around 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the New York Daily News.

The Daily News reports that Morales' friend says the 12-year-old said only hours be fore his death that he was tired of being bullied, according to Morales' aunt Angelica Babilonia. Relatives reportedly said the boy had been bullied for months before his death, even after he transfered schools.

Police say Morales did not leave a suicide note.

"I know in my heart it was bullying that made him do it," Morales' 23-year-old sister, Richeliss Salazar, told the Daily News.