Iowa teen Alexander "AJ" Betts committed suicide over the weekend. The 16-year-old Pleasant Hill native is the fifth student at Southeast Polk High School to take their own life in as many years.

“We had no indication that anything was wrong. He is the happiest kid I’ve ever met. Everybody who meets him says that," AJ's mom, Sheryl Moore, told KCCI-TV. But Moore admits “It must have been really horrible, if my son got to the point where he would hurt my husband, my daughters and I to take his own life."

AJ was involuntarily outed in early 2012, and according to Moore and his friends, was constantly ridiculed for being gay, for being half-black and for having been born with a cleft palate.

The only word from authorities at Southeast Polk High is that they can't say if AJ ever reported being bullied.

The risk of suicide attempts and depression is substantially higher for LGBT youth because of bullying and a lack of support. For more information and resources, contact the Trevor Project.

Related: Another gay teen commits suicide after years of bullying