A 16-year-old boy died trying to protect his younger brother from bullies over the weekend.

Alijay Morgan was at a basketball court in Bronx, New York, with his younger brother when the latter began tussling with other kids.

“My big one turned around and saw the little one was being bullied by someone his age. They started tussling playfully. Then it got serious. All I know, the kids said they’re coming back with a gun,” Patricia Gay, the boys’ mother, told The New York Daily News.

“Before you know it, some grown man came up to another kid holding a knife, said, ‘What are you doing with that?’ and took it from him and stabbed my son in his heart.”

Gay was at work when she received the news. Her son was dead before she could make it to the emergency room.

“I was distraught, traumatized, confused. Hurt. Heartbroken,” she said. “He was gone. I didn’t get to talk to him.”

Gay says Morgan had dreams of becoming a menswear designer and his other hobbies included boxing, rapping and dancing.

“He liked to draw clothes for boys,” she said. “He’d cut up jeans, style them up, color them in. He’s very talented, smart.”

Her other son, Jamar, is taking the tragedy very hard, according to his mother.

“My little one is traumatized. He witnessed the whole thing,” Gay said. “He was blaming himself. I told him it’s not his fault.”

Jamar says the incident went from retaliation wedgies to punches.

“My brother was protecting me from some kid that hit me out of nowhere. He gave me a wedgie at first. I gave him a wedgie back. Then he started punching me. So him and my brother started talking,” said the 13-year-old. “I love my brother and I wish that never happened.”

Mohammed Fadika, 16, was arrested for the killing on Saturday, April 28. He was charged with murder, manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon, according to The New York Post.